CABINET OFFICE

Conditions of Employment

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) women and (b) men employed on zero-hours contracts in the UK.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated May 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) women and (b) men employed on zero-hours contracts in the UK. 196923
	Estimates of the numbers and characteristics of people in employment on zero-hours contracts are available from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which is a survey of people resident in households. The LFS asks people in employment if their job has any flexible working arrangements and, if so, to choose from a list of employment patterns as to which best describes their situation. “Zero-hours contract” is one of the options listed and is described as a contract ‘where a person is not contracted to work a set number of hours, and is only paid for the number of hours that they actually work’.
	Further to this, the ONS announced on 23 August 2013 that it would additionally undertake a survey of businesses, to obtain an employer-based estimate to complement the existing LFS employee-based figure, as in the following link:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/mro/news-release/ons-announces-additional-estimate-of-zero-hours-contracts/zhc0813.html
	Results from the ONS business survey were published on 30 April 2014:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lmac/contracts-with-no-guaranteed-hours/zero-hours-contracts/art-zero-hours.html
	This adopted a slightly different definition to the LFS, and reported on the number of employee contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours, which provided work in the survey reference period. This estimate includes, but is not exclusively, “zero-hours contracts” and covers some other contract types that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours.
	According to the LFS for the three-month period October to December 2013, there were an estimated 583,000 people on a zero-hours contract in the UK. For the ONS business survey, there were 1.4 million employee contracts that do not guarantee a minimum number of hours, which provided work in the survey reference period of the fortnight beginning 20 January 2014. This is higher than the figure reported in the LFS for a number of reasons:
	i. employers and employees will have differing perceptions and awareness about the types of employment contracts used;
	ii. the employer survey will count employee contracts, not people, and will provide higher estimates (as one person can have more than one contract);
	iii. employers in the business survey may report multiple contracts for each job;
	iv. the questions asked of respondents differed slightly, with the business survey asking about contracts not guaranteeing any hours, while the LFS question uses the term “zero-hours contracts”;
	v. the LFS includes all people in employment (including the self-employed) while the business survey only includes employees.
	As for the original question of the numbers by gender, it is only the LFS that enables a breakdown by gender, and this shows that the 583,000 is split as 263,000 (45%) men and 319,000 (55%) women.

Debts

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the aggregate household debt in the UK was in the most recent quarter for which figures are available.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated April 2014
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the aggregate household debt in the UK was in the most recent quarter for which figures are available. (196847)
	The Office for National Statistics publishes details of the combined financial liabilities of households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH). NPISH is a relatively small contributor to the sector. The most recent analyses can be found in table A64 of the United Kingdom Economic Accounts (UKEA) 2013 Q4, published on 28 March 2014. The UKEA is available on the National Statistics web site at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/naa1-rd/united-kingdom-economic-accounts/q4-2013/index.html
	This shows that, in households and NPISH, the combined “Total financial liabilities” increased in 2013 Q4 to a figure of £1,555.0 billion. In the same period in 2012 the figure was £1,544.3 billion.

Infant Mortality

Andrew Love: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the five most common causes of infant mortality have been over the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Peter Fullerton, dated May 2014
	On behalf of the Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the five most common causes of infant mortality have been over the last five years.
	Table 1 provides the number of deaths for the top five causes among infants, for those occurring in England and Wales from 2008 to 2012 (the latest year available).
	Figures for infant mortality in England and Wales are published annually on the ONS website at:
	http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/vsob1/child-mortality-statistics--childhood--infant-and-perinatal/index.html
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of deaths from the top five causes among infants, England and Wales, for those occurring in each year from 2008-121, 2, 3, 4, 5 
			  Rank Cause Number 
			 2008 1 Immaturity related conditions 1,465 
			  2 Congenital malformation or defect 971 
			  3 Asphyxia, anoxia or trauma 209 
			  4 Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 155 
			  5 Infections 133 
			     
			 2009 1 Immaturity related conditions 1,426 
			  2 Congenital malformation or defect 997 
			  3 Asphyxia, anoxia or trauma 211 
			  4 Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 154 
			  5 Infections 123 
			     
			 2010 1 Immaturity related conditions 1,354 
			  2 Congenital malformation or defect 967 
			  3 Asphyxia, anoxia or trauma 208 
			  4 Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 138 
			  5 Infections 109 
			     
			 2011 1 Immaturity related conditions 1,397 
			  2 Congenital malformation or defect 926 
			  3 Asphyxia, anoxia or trauma 198 
			  4 Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 137 
			  5 Infections 118 
			     
			 2012 1 Immaturity related conditions 1,286 
			  2 Congenital malformation or defect 981 
			  3 Asphyxia, anoxia or trauma 174 
			  4 Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) 131 
			  5 Infections 105 
			 1 Figures include the deaths of non-residents 2 Includes neonatal deaths (deaths under 28 days) 3 Infant deaths are deaths under one year 4 Cause of death is defined using the ONS hierarchical classification system in ICD-10, which produces broad cause groups that enable direct comparison of neonatal and postneonatal deaths. More information can be found in section 2.11 and annexes K and L of Child mortality statistics. 2009 5 Figures are on deaths occurring, rather than registered in each calendar year Source: Office for National Statistics

Policy

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: These things are not easy to quantify. Approaches to quantifying benefits of a policy intervention are used in accordance with principles outlined in HM Treasury’s guidance on conducting appraisal and evaluation in central Government (known as the “Green Book”). The Green Book recognises that using these approaches to quantify the benefits of an intervention is challenging, and that the approaches should be used appropriately.

Senior Civil Servants

Hilary Benn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what the Government's target is for the proportion of (a) women, (b) people from black and minority ethnic communities and (c) disabled people in senior management posts in central Government Departments.

Francis Maude: Appointments and promotion in the civil service should be made on merit through fair and open competition. To ensure our civil service delivers the best for Britain we must draw on the widest possible pool of talent. We want to ensure that the best people—irrespective of who they are—rise to the top of the civil service but are concerned that for too long the very top ranks do not reflect those further down. We have commissioned independent research to look at the blockages women face making it to the very top and will use this to drive a new strategy for managing talent.

Stationery

John Redwood: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables;
	(2)  what levels of stock No. 10 Downing Street holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

Nick Hurd: The Prime Minister’s Office is an integral part of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested is not held centrally.

Youth Services

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what estimate has he made of the proportion of youth services commissioned by local authorities from (a) in-house bids from directly-funded providers, (b) voluntary organisation and (c) private-sector companies in each year since 2010;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure continuity in local authority provision of youth services during commissioning processes to tender those services.

Nick Hurd: Local authorities are expected to make arrangements for continuity of provision of services and activities to young people throughout any commissioning activity. Statutory guidance on this duty was issued by the Department for Education in July 2012.
	Local authorities are required to submit to Government separate budget and outturn statements outlining planned and actual expenditure for their education and children’s social care functions annually. This includes spend information on youth work and youth services, however this information does not allow a complete breakdown by different categories of organisation to be calculated.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Domestic Visits

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many times she has visited Northern Ireland since 1 January 2014; and what the length was of each such visit.

Theresa Villiers: I have visited Northern Ireland 14 times since 1 January 2014. On two occasions the length of the visit was a day, on 10 occasions the length of the visit was two days and on two occasions the length of the visit was three days.

Northern Ireland Government

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what discussions she has had with HM Treasury on additional financial support to implement the draft proposals put forward in the Haass agreement;
	(2)  what assessment her Department has made of the cost of introducing any new structures proposed by the Haass agreement.

Theresa Villiers: No estimate has been made of the cost. I continue to support and encourage the Northern Ireland parties as they pursue an agreement on flags, parading and the past, but as these are mainly devolved matters funding for new structures would principally come out of the Block Grant that is paid to the Northern Ireland Executive. Requests for additional funding will be considered in the context of the current UK Government deficit that we inherited from our predecessors and would require Treasury approval.

Northern Ireland Government

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what meetings she has had with (a) the First Minister of Northern Ireland, (b) the Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland and (c) both the First and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland in the last 12 months.

Theresa Villiers: I meet regularly with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister to discuss a range of issues and will continue to do so.

Terrorism

Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether west midlands police were contacted on the issuing of so-called comfort letters to anyone suspected of involvement in the Birmingham Pub Bombings.

Theresa Villiers: I am not aware of any contact with west midlands police by my Department prior to the issuing of any letters to individuals involved in the on-the-runs administrative scheme.

Terrorism

Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if she will publish witness statements given to the Downey trial.

Theresa Villiers: This is a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service.

Terrorism

Khalid Mahmood: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the families of all victims of crimes for which the beneficiaries of so-called comfort letters were convicted have yet been informed that such letters were issued.

Theresa Villiers: The administrative scheme established by the previous Government operated as follows; the police (and in some cases the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland) checked whether sufficient evidence existed in each case at that time for named individuals to be questioned, arrested or prosecuted if they returned to Northern Ireland or any other part of the United Kingdom.
	If it was concluded that there was no prospect of any prosecution based on the evidence then available, the individuals were informed that they were not wanted by the police—the letters were only ever a statement of fact regarding an individual's status with the police and prosecuting authorities at a particular point in time i.e. whether they were sought for arrest or not. Lady Justice Hallett has been appointed to investigate the administrative scheme and to provide a full public account of how it operated.

PRIME MINISTER

Nuclear Power

Paul Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer of 30 April 2014, Official Report, column 824, what the evidential basis is for the statement that nuclear power is carbon-free.

David Cameron: There is a strong consensus in the global scientific community that nuclear energy represents one of the lowest carbon forms of baseload electricity generation.
	The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates that the life cycle emissions associated with the generation of electricity from nuclear power groups are 16g CO2 per kWh electricity produced. This is very low compared to the equivalent figure for electricity produced by natural gas turbines, which is in excess of 400g CO2/kWh, and similar to the IPCC's estimate for widespread non-baseload form of electricity generation, such as wind.
	The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology report ‘Carbon Footprint of Electricity Generation’ states that the operation of the nuclear power station accounts for less than 1% of the total life cycle emissions of nuclear electricity generation.

Pakistan

Paul Flynn: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, column 473W, on Pakistan, whether Pakistan's possession of nuclear weapons and the prospects of Pakistan joining the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty were discussed at his 30 April 2014 meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

David Cameron: When I met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on 30 April, I discussed a range of issues, including on foreign and security policy.
	It is the UK’s position that all countries should join and abide by the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

European Union: Citizenship

Simon Danczuk: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking in support of Action 12 of the EU Citizenship Report 2013, com (2013) 269.

Greg Clark: The issue of voting in domestic elections is a matter for national Governments and we do not accept the Commission's view of a European Public Space.

General Elections: Voting Rights

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make an assessment of the feasibility of granting people the right to vote in General Elections based on residency rather than nationality; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Clark: The Government have no plans to link the right to vote in general elections to residency rather than nationality.

Stationery

John Redwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what levels of stock his Office holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

Nicholas Clegg: The information requested is not held centrally.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Counterfeit Manufacturing: Alcoholic Drinks

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Attorney-General how many people in the UK were prosecuted for the production or sale of counterfeit alcohol in each of the last five years.

Nicky Morgan: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Treasury.
	HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold the management information required to answer the specific question around counterfeit product.

Freezing Orders

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many and what value of asset freezing orders have been enforced in the UK at the request of overseas jurisdictions in each year since 2008-09.

Oliver Heald: The number and estimated value of restraint orders obtained by the CPS and SFO pursuant to requests from overseas jurisdictions since 2008-09 are shown in the following tables.
	The value of restrained assets may vary over time due to changes in asset valuations, exchange rates and payments of expenses.
	
		
			 Crown Prosecution Service 
			  Number of overseas restraint orders Estimated amount preserved (to nearest £000) 
			 2008-09 16 60,504,000 
			 2009-10 15 11,006,000 
			 2010-11 7 2,693,000 
			 2011-12 2 50,074,000 
			 2012-13 6 4,080,000 
			 2013-14 3 409,000 
		
	
	
		
			 Serious Fraud Office 
			  Number of overseas restraint orders Estimated amount preserved (to nearest £000) 
			 2008-09 2 1,000,000 
			 2009-10 3 69,500,000 
			 2010-11 2 1,500,000

Minimum Wage: Prosecutions

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney-General how many cases of non-payment of the minimum wage were (a) referred to the Crown Prosecution Service from HM Revenue and Customs, (b) prosecuted and (c) prosecuted successfully in 2013-14 and each of the preceding three financial years.

Oliver Heald: Based on data held centrally by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) together with information provided by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which has responsibility for enforcing the law in relation to the national minimum wage, I have established (a) three referrals were made to the CPS from HMRC in 2010-11. No referrals were made in the financial years 2011-12, 2012-13 or 2013-14. (b) One prosecution commenced in 2011-12 from the three cases referred in 2010-11. (c) One conviction is recorded in 2010-11 (referred in 2009-10) and one conviction in 2012-13 (referred in 2010-11). This information represents the period of 2013-14 and the preceding three financial years.
	HMRC also has civil enforcement powers to secure and punish in cases of non-compliance.

Pornography: Internet

Helen Goodman: To ask the Attorney-General pursuant to the answer of 29 April 2014, Official Report, column 540W, on pornography: internet, how many prosecutions there have been under section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 since 2005 in which a person has been charged in connection with the distribution of R18 equivalent material on a website which allowed under-18s to see such material.

Oliver Heald: The records held by the Crown Prosecution Service do not specify the type of material which is the subject of a charge under Section 2 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 (publishing or having an obscene article for gain). To obtain details of individual cases would require a manual review, which could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Attorney-General whether the Law Officers' Departments have any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Oliver Heald: These arrangements are kept under review.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Gender: Equality

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Ministers for Women and Equalities pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2014, Official Report, columns 578-9W, on equality, how many companies responded to the recent survey of companies participating in the Think, Act, Report initiative; and what information her Department holds on which companies participating in that initiative (a) have conducted a gender pay audit in the last two years and (b) publish detailed gender pay gap information for each grade.

Jennifer Willott: The survey of Think, Act, Report participating companies was conducted in October 2013. There were 39 responses, roughly a third of the companies then supporting the initiative.
	The survey was anonymous, so the Department does not hold information on which of the companies have conducted gender pay audits. However, we are aware there are at least 16 such companies.
	At least two companies, Friends Life and Genesis Housing, publish detailed gender pay gap information broken down by every grade. The Government are using the initiative to encourage companies to publish pay information, and for many of them signing-up to Think, Act, Report is their first step on that journey.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Children: Maintenance

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many recovery actions in respect of child support arrears owed to the parent residing in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency were (a) commenced, (b) concluded successfully and (c) suspended in the last three years for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: Information on the number of recovery actions in respect of child support arrears owed to the parent with care in the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency is not available as it is not routinely recorded for management information purposes. To provide this would require the creation of new information which could only be completed and appropriately assured at a disproportionate cost.
	Information regarding enforcement actions undertaken by the Child Support Agency (CSA) is published on page 48 of the CSA Quarterly Summary of Statistics. This can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-statistics-december-2013

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much remains outstanding in child maintenance arrears by (a) UK parliamentary constituency area and (b) local authority area in each of the last three years.

Steve Webb: Information on the amount of child maintenance arrears owed by (a) UK parliamentary constituency will be placed in the Library.
	The information on child maintenance arrears by (b) local authority area is already published and can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284686/csa_qtr_summ_stats_ regional_dec13.xls
	Notes:
	The table contains outstanding arrears figures as at December 2012 and December 2013 broken down by each local authority. Although arrears figures are available in previously published versions of the regional tables, available at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/child-support-agency-quarterly-summary-statistics--2
	these figures are not comparable due to a different methodology.

Employment and Support Allowance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employment and support allowance claimants in the work-related activity group in (a) Scotland, (b) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (c) North Lanarkshire and (d) the UK (i) successfully and (ii) unsuccessfully appealed against the imposition of a sanction in (A) the two years prior to December 2012 and (B) each year since December 2012 including the most recent period for which figures are available.

Esther McVey: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 ESA Sanctions Appeals: January 2011 to September 2013 
			 Date Decision type Great Britain Scotland North Lanarkshire local authority Airdrie and Shotts parliamentary constituency 
			 January-December 2011 Adverse 12 — — — 
			  Non Adverse 5 — — — 
			 January-December 2012 Adverse 27 — — — 
			  Non Adverse 17 — — — 
			 January-September 2013 Adverse 59 5 — — 
			  Non Adverse 81 8 — — 
			 Notes: Figures have been randomly adjusted and totals will include individuals who have had a sanction applied for more than one period e.g. if an individual had a sanction applied in 2011 and in 2012 then they will appear in both of these periods. “ – “ denotes nil or negligible. 2. A non-adverse decision is a decision found in favour of the claimant, i.e. a sanction or disallowance is not applied. 3. An adverse decision is a decision found against the claimant, i.e. a sanction or disallowance is applied. 4. Year of Decision: The year in which the decision on the sanction referral was made. 2013 only includes data up to and including the 30th September, which this is the latest data available. The low numbers in 2011 are a result of previous employment programmes ending. 6. New regulations introduced a new revised sanctions regime for ESA claimants from 3rd December 2012. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules This information is published and can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance for users is available at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at: http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications Source: DWP: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics database 
		
	
	
		
			 ESA Sanctions Appeals: January 2011 to September 2013 
			 Date Decision type Great Britain Scotland North Lanarkshire local authority Airdrie and Shotts parliamentary constituency 
			 January-December 2011 Adverse 12 — — — 
			  Non Adverse 5 — — — 
			 January-December 2012 Adverse 27 — — — 
			  Non Adverse 17 — — — 
			 January-September 2013 Adverse 59 5 — — 
			  Non Adverse 81 8 — — 
			 Notes: Figures have been randomly adjusted and totals will include individuals who have had a sanction applied for more than one period e.g. if an individual had a sanction applied in 2011 and in 2012 then they will appear in both of these periods. “ – “ denotes nil or negligible. 2. A non-adverse decision is a decision found in favour of the claimant, i.e. a sanction or disallowance is not applied. 3. An adverse decision is a decision found against the claimant, i.e. a sanction or disallowance is applied. 4. Year of Decision: The year in which the decision on the sanction referral was made. 2013 only includes data up to and including the 30th September, which this is the latest data available. The low numbers in 2011 are a result of previous employment programmes ending. 6. New regulations introduced a new revised sanctions regime for ESA claimants from 3rd December 2012. Details can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jobseekers-allowance-overview-of-sanctions-rules This information is published and can be found at: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance for users is available at: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at: http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research/benefit_publications Source: DWP: Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics database

Employment: Young People

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of young people participating in the Youth Contract have been offered permanent employment by their employer once they have completed their placement since the commencement of that programme.

Esther McVey: From April 2012 to November 2013 there have been 99,640 18-24 year olds who have started a work experience placement and 41,360 18-24 year olds who have started Sector based work academy pre-employment training. [Youth Contract official statistics: February 2014]. Research found that 22% of WE participants who completed their placement were offered a job by placement organisers (from a base of 824 survey respondents who completed placement).
	42% of sbwa participants who had a placement and completed it were offered a job by their placement organiser (from a base of 126 who completed a placement).
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284017/rr865-youth-contract-customer-experiences.pdf

Employment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people have benefited from Youth Contract wage incentives, by region, in each year since the Youth Contract was introduced;
	(2)  how much has been paid out in wage incentives under the Youth Contract, by region, in each year since its introduction.

Esther McVey: The latest information that we hold on Youth Contract Wage Incentives was published in February 2014 and can be found at the following link. We do not collect payment data in a form that allows them to be reported at regional level.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283873/youth-contract-feb14.pdf

Employment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much has been spent on consultants working on the Youth Contract in each year since its introduction.

Esther McVey: DWP does not have any consultants working on the delivery of the Youth Contract.

Employment: Young People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding is currently allocated to the Youth Contract; and what proportion of that funding is allocated for wage incentives.

Esther McVey: Our 2014-15 budget allocation for Youth Contract is £183.75 million, of which £42.55 million is currently allocated to wage incentives (23.2%).

Industrial Health and Safety: Stress

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what steps the Government are taking to ensure that workers report work-related stress to their employers;
	(2)  what steps the Government are taking to enable employers to handle cases of employees suffering from work-related stress or other psychological problems affecting their work.

Michael Penning: Health and safety regulations already place a duty on employers to consult with all employees over issues that may affect their health and safety, including work-related stress.
	My Department will also introduce a new Health and Work Service to provide occupational health advice and support for employees, employers and GPs to help individuals with health conditions, including stress and other psychological problems, to stay in or return to work. This service will provide a more effective system for employees to report work-related stress issues.
	The service is due to begin by the end of 2014.

Industrial Health and Safety: Stress

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward legislative proposals to require employers to undertake a systematic assessment of psychological risks in the workplace.

Michael Penning: The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 already require employers to undertake an assessment of risks to the health and safety of their employees. The Health and Safety Executive’s Management Standards for work-related stress provide further practical guidance to support this legislation, and help employers to assess the risk of work-related stress. The Government believe that this represents a proportionate and sensible approach to the assessment of work-related stress and psychological risks.

Industrial Health and Safety: Stress

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will commission an assessment of the causes of work-related stress.

Michael Penning: There is already a considerable amount of academic research—national and international—that has evidenced the primary causes of work-related stress. The Health and Safety Executive website provides details of a wide range of research commissioned over the past decade:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/research.htm

Industrial Health and Safety: Stress

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if his Department will publish guidance for employers on reducing the causes of work-related stress.

Michael Penning: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has already published a comprehensive range of guidance to help employers reduce the causes of work-related stress:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/
	Guidance on HSE’s Management Standards for work-related stress is available free to download from the HSE website:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/stress/standards/index.htm

Jobcentre Plus

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many representations he has received opposing the removal of customer access phones from Jobcentre Plus offices; which Jobcentre Plus offices serving constituents of Ogmore constituency have been affected by the removal of customer access phones from such offices; and how many people in Ogmore constituency are being serviced by each such Jobcentre Plus office.

Esther McVey: The Department has received a number of representations on the removal of Customer Access Phones. The Department operates an Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum, made up of charities, community organisations and customer representative groups, and this issue will be discussed at the next meeting of the Forum in May.
	Jobcentres provide face-to-face support for claimants. Following the removal of Customer Access Phones, claimants who require access to a phone-in connection with their benefit or job search will still be given controlled access to a telephone in a jobcentre.
	Ogmore constituents are served by several jobcentres as the jobcentre network does not reflect constituency boundaries. A summary follows by jobcentre in the constituency:
	Bridgend Jobcentre
	Customer Access Phones have not yet been removed.
	Maesteg Jobcentre
	Customer Access Phones were withdrawn, replaced by a new assisted service of face-to-face support in 2014.
	Llantrisant Jobcentre
	Customer Access Phones were withdrawn, replaced by a new assisted service of face-to-face support in 2014.
	Porth Jobcentre
	One Customer Access Phone is currently available; three were withdrawn between November 2013 and January 2014, because of falling demand.
	Jobcentre boundaries do not match constituency boundaries so we can only provide a breakdown for Ogmore in total. These are as follows:
	Total JSA claimants (March 2014): 1,559.
	(Source: ONS claimant count with rates and proportions).
	Total claimants (Working-age client group—key benefit claimants (August 2013)): 10,510.
	(Source: DWP benefit claimants—working age client group).

Jobcentre Plus

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many reported assaults there have been on members of staff in Jobcentre Plus in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) West Lothian local authority area and (d) Livingston constituency in each of the last five years.

Michael Penning: All incidents of unacceptable behaviour are taken very seriously by the Department and particularly those of a physical assault. Jobcentres have a robust set of control measures in place to reduce such risk, and work with the police and departmental solicitors to ensure appropriate punitive action is taken against those who assault our staff. In September 2011 a new online incident reporting system was introduced to support staff and improve the quality of incidents reported.
	It is also important to note that physical assaults, whether resulting in injury or not, on staff within jobcentres1 are very rare and should be viewed in context of the millions of interactions undertaken by our staff each year.
	1Incident figures reported by the Department include our security officers/customer care officers (CCO’s) as staff on Jobcentre premises, by default.
	
		
			 Actual physical assaults on staff within jobcentres 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 UK 339 331 465 669 634 
			 Scotland 22 12 31 38 27 
			 West Lothian LA (Livingston, Bathgate, Broxburn combined figure) 1 3 2 2 0 
			 Livingston 1 1 2 0 0 
			 Note: Actual Assaults are defined into three categories: No injury/Less than cuts and bruises Cuts and bruises More than cuts and bruises.

Jobcentre Plus

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many days were lost due to illness among Jobcentre Plus staff in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) West Lothian local authority area and (d) Livingston constituency in each of the last five years.

Michael Penning: DWP has robust and effective measures in place for managing sickness absence and has succeeded in cutting sickness absence from an annual average of 11.1 days per employee in 2007 to 6.9 days per employee currently. To place this in context the civil service average is 7.6 days.
	Jobcentre Plus was re-structured and absorbed into a revised Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Operations structure in October 2011. Since that point, it has no longer existed as a separate organisation. This means the information beyond September 2011 is not available.
	In accordance with cross government arrangements; the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reports sick leave expressed as average working days lost (AWDL) per employee, over a rolling 12-month period
	The following table shows Jobcentre Plus AWDL for 2009-10 and 2010-11. Information was not available for the period April to September 2011 because this was less than a 12 month period.
	
		
			  2009-10 2010-11 
			 UK 8.8 8.6 
			 Scotland 8.2 7.3 
			 West Lothian LA area 9.6 7.4 
			 Livingston constituency1 10.9 6.1 
			 1 Information by parliamentary constituency is not held directly but information is available by office, therefore we have created a combined figure for the two offices in the constituency-Livingstone Jobcentre and Broxburn Jobcentre. 
		
	
	To put these reductions into context, if Average Working Days Lost in DWP was still at the level it was in 2007, the Department would be paying over £27.5 million more in sick pay than it is at present.

Jobcentre Plus

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what criteria his Department uses to measure the performance of each Jobcentre Plus office.

Esther McVey: Jobcentre Plus offices’ performance is measured in a variety of ways, including in respect of how quickly they help get people off benefits and into work.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Jim McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many sanctions were applied to jobseeker's allowance claimants in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Dundee in each of the last three years.

Esther McVey: Statistics on the number of jobseeker’s allowance benefit claimants, who have been sanctioned in Great Britain, Scotland and Dundee, are published and can be found at:
	https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
	Guidance for users is available at:
	https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm
	Information for Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Department for Social Development. Northern Ireland statistics can be found at:
	http://www.dsdni.gov.uk/index/stats_and_research.htm

Jobseeker's Allowance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many decision makers within the jobseeker's allowance framework in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland, (c) North Lanarkshire and (d) Airdrie and Shotts constituency had a complaint issued against them in each of the last four years; and how many of those complaints led to disciplinary action.

Michael Penning: The information sought is contained in individual personnel records. DWP cannot provide this information as it could be collated only at a disproportionate cost to the Department.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Lone Parents

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research he has commissioned on the number of single parents on jobseeker's allowance who have been sanctioned; what the reasons are for such sanctions; and what the proportion of such sanctions that have been overturned is.

Esther McVey: The Department has commissioned research with lone parents on jobseeker’s allowance which provides further information on sanctions. Findings are published on the DWP website:
	Coleman, N and Riley, T; (2012); Lone Parent Obligations: following lone parents’ journeys from benefit to work; DWP Research Report 818:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lone-parent-obligations-following-lone-parents-journeys-from-benefits-to-work-rr818
	Lane et al; (2011); Lone Parent Obligations: work, childcare and the Jobseeker’s Allowance regime; DWP Research Report 782:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lone-parent-obligations-work-childcare-and-the-jobseekers-allowance-regime-rr782
	Casebourne et al; (2010); Lone Parent Obligations: destinations of lone parents after Income Support eligibility ends; DWP Research Report 710:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lone-parent-obligations-destinations-of-lone-parents-after-income-supporteligibility-ends-rr710
	Gloster R al; (2010); Lone Parent Obligations: early findings of implementation as well as experiences of the Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance regimes; DWP Research Report 645:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lone-parent-obligations-early-findings-of-implementation-as-well-as-experiences-of-the-income-support-and-jobseekers-allowance-regimes-rr645
	Information on the number of lone parents on jobseeker's allowance who have been sanctioned, by reason, are published and can be found at:
	https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
	Guidance for users is available at:
	https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Stat-Xplore_User_Guide.htm
	The information requested on the proportion of JSA sanctions overturned is not currently available.
	DWP statisticians identified an error in the JSA sanctions appeal outcomes data. In line with normal practice for official statistics the Department has withdrawn this particular set of information. The data will be made available again as soon as possible, pending investigations by DWP statisticians who will, if necessary, make corrections to this data.
	For further information see here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions

National Insurance Credits: Armed Forces

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the letter dated 5 March 2014 from the Minister of State for Pensions to the hon. Member for Cardiff South and Penarth, 
	(1)  when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to make national insurance credits available for past periods for service spouses; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of service spouses who will be affected by his plans to bring forward legislative proposals to make national insurance credits available for past periods for service spouses.

Steve Webb: Subject to Royal Assent of the Pensions Bill a duty will be placed on the Secretary of State to make regulations to allow service spouses and civil partners, due to reach state pension age from 6 April 2016, to apply for national insurance credits for periods during which they accompanied their husband, wife or civil partner on a posting outside the UK. The regulations will make provision to allow credits for periods between 1975-76 and 2010.
	We are working with the Ministry of Defence on the finer details of the scheme, including the manner in which applications will need to be made and the precise date when the administrative arrangements will be in place.
	We estimate that up to 20,000 individuals could have a higher single-tier pension from these credits as some individuals may, at state pension age, already have sufficient qualifying years to gain a full single-tier pension.

Operating Costs

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will disaggregate the departmental operating costs in his Department's annual accounts to programme level for each financial year since 2010-11.

Michael Penning: Programme costs are detailed in the Department’s annual report and accounts as follows:
	2012-13
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/264555/dwp-annual-report-accounts-2012-2013.pdf
	note 9 page 115
	notes 10-12 pages 116-117
	2011-12
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214340/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2011-2012.pdf
	note 10 and 11, page 132
	notes 13-16 pages 134-135
	2010-11
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/214339/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2010-2011.pdf
	note 13 page 152
	notes 15-19 pages 155-157

Pensions

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department takes into account the differences in the positions of men and women in preparing for retirement when devising its policy on pensions.

Steve Webb: Yes. The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to fully meeting our legal obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty, which is part of the Equality Act 2010. We have embedded equality analysis into the processes we use to develop, deliver and evaluate our policies, practices and services. This ensures that we continue to assess the likely and actual effects of what we do on people with protected characteristics to help inform our decision making processes.

Personal Independence Payment

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what processes his Department has in place to monitor the welfare of personal independence payment applicants awaiting a decision on their claim.

Michael Penning: The Department does not routinely monitor the welfare of people applying for benefits.

Personal Independence Payment

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what processes his Department has in place to evaluate the roll out of personal independence payments.

Michael Penning: The Department has plans to undertake an evaluation of PIP. We published our outline PIP evaluation proposals in December 2012.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180969/pip-evaluation-proposals.pdf
	Additionally, PIP will be subject to two independent reviews, the first of which will be completed by the end of 2014. We will use this review to understand how the PIP assessment is working in practice and carefully consider any recommendations made by the independent reviewer.

Personal Independence Payment

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent assessment he has made of the performance of Capita in fulfilling its contract to administer personal independence payments.

Michael Penning: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 6 January 2014, Official Report, columns 58-59W, to the hon. Member for Edinburgh East (Sheila Gilmore).

Personal Independence Payment

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of savings to the public purse arising from using Capita to administer personal independence payment assessments.

Michael Penning: Expenditure forecasts from the introduction of personal independence payment (PIP) are calculated on a national basis and it is therefore not possible to provide a breakdown in respect of areas where administration of PIP has been contracted to Capita.

Social Security Benefits

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, columns 218-9W, on social security benefits, when he expects to make available the requested data.

Michael Penning: In the production of new statistics the Department works to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity.
	All releases will be preannounced via the UK National Statistics publication hub at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html

Social Security Benefits

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time taken was between an application being made and benefit paid for (a) attendance allowance, (b) bereavement benefits, (c) carer's allowance, (d) disability living allowance, (e) employment and support allowance, (f) jobseeker's allowance, (g) maternity benefits, (h) housing benefit, (i) council tax benefit and (j) pension credit in the most recent period for which figures are available in (i) Airdrie and Shotts constituency, (ii) Scotland and (iii) the UK.

Michael Penning: The information regarding when a benefit is paid is not available as this can vary from each claim depending on circumstances, payment type and frequency of payment.
	The data that are available are on the Actual Average Clearance Time (AACT) which is the average time taken between an application being made and the date the customer was notified of the decision on their claim.
	Please see the most recent AACT data in the following table.
	
		
			 Claims Actual Average Clearance Time (AACT) National Year-End 2013-14 Scotland Year End 2013-14 
			 Attendance Allowance claims AACT 14.3 n/a 
			 Bereavement Benefit Claims AACT 15.9 n/a 
			 Carers Allowance claims AACT n/a n/a 
			 Disability Living Allowance claims AACT 22.4 n/a 
			 Employment and Support Allowance claims AACT 8.6 8.3 
			 Jobseekers Allowance claims AACT 8.1 7.9 
			 Maternity Allowance Claims AACT 7.3 n/a 
			 Pension Credit claims AACT 7.15 n/a 
		
	
	Housing benefit and council tax benefit are administered by local authorities and not the DWP. Processing statistics for these benefits can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?publication_filter_option=statistics

Social Security Benefits

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of households in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency whose incomes from benefits payments have reduced by (i) 10 per cent, (ii) between 20 and 49 per cent and (iii) 50 per cent or more since May 2010.

Esther McVey: The requested information is not available.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a code of practice on the circumstances in which recovery action will be taken for overpayments of universal credit, jobseeker's allowance and employment and support allowance.

Esther McVey: A copy of the Code of Practice “What happens if you are overpaid Universal Credit, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance” will be placed in the House Library.
	The Code of Practice is available on gov.uk and can be accessed through the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-happens-if-you-are-overpaid-universal-credit-jobseekers-allowance-or-employment-and-support-allowance

Social Security Benefits: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have received a benefit sanction have appealed this decision and won sanction in (a) Scotland, (b) Airdrie and Shotts constituency and (c) North Lanarkshire in each of the last four years up to the most recent period for which figures are available.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Michael Penning: These arrangements are kept under review.

Unemployed People: Travel

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what budget is allocated to each Jobcentre Plus office to reimburse jobseekers' travel expenses; and how each such budget is decided.

Esther McVey: Each jobcentre is allocated funding to support claimants move towards and into work, and this could include meeting their travel expenses. For internal planning purposes, each district manager will estimate of the likely number of claimants requiring additional support and the cost within that locality, but the information is not routinely collated and reported centrally. District plans are reviewed regularly to ensure they make best use of available funding and all local priorities can be met.

Universal Credit

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the effect on the number of people subject to improved incentives to work of the introduction of universal credit.

Esther McVey: Universal credit will encourage claimants to move into employment by allowing individuals to keep more of their income as they move into work and by introducing a smoother and more transparent reduction of benefits.
	Once universal credit is fully rolled out, the number of households losing more than 70% of their earnings when starting work of 10 hours per week will fall by 800,000.
	Overall it is estimated that up to 300,000 individuals will move into work as a result of universal credit, through improved financial incentives, increased simplicity of the system and increased conditionality.
	These estimates are consistent with the policy assumptions underpinning the universal credit costings published by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Universal Credit: Merseyside

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of single people who will be claiming universal credit in the first year of the roll-out of universal credit in the six boroughs of the Merseyside Jobcentre Plus district.

Esther McVey: holding answer 1 May 2014
	The Department announced on 5 December 2013 that universal credit would roll out in the north west in summer 2014. The Department confirmed on 30 April 2014 that it is now in discussion with relevant local authorities in the north west on the detailed planning to make that happen.
	As with jobseeker's allowance, the Department does not hold forecasts of UC claimant numbers split by both borough, and then by marital status within that borough. Claimant numbers at this degree of detail will be influenced by a range of factors; these include likely local demographics and likely economic conditions within each borough. It is not possible to combine these in any meaningful way, and any such estimates might prove to be unreliable.

Work Capability Assessment

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many meetings (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with (i) disability groups and charities and (ii) providers of the work capability assessment in each of the last five years.

Michael Penning: Ministers and officials meet regularly with a range of stakeholders about the work capability assessment, including our health assessment providers, disability representative groups and charities.
	The current contractual agreement between DWP and Atos Healthcare contains a number of key performance indicators. DWP monitors and discusses performance with Atos on a weekly basis.

Work Capability Assessment

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department uses a working assumption for the timescale for a work capability assessment report to be processed by Atos.

Michael Penning: Atos Healthcare is expected to clear work capability assessments within an Actual Average Clearance Target (AACT) of 35 working days. This is to handle the referral from the date it is received from the Department and includes the time for processing and completing paperwork relating to work capability assessments.

Work Capability Assessment

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether all staff employed by Atos Healthcare to perform the company's contract with his Department for the conduct of work capability assessments will receive full protection under TUPE provisions.

Michael Penning: When Atos Healthcare withdraws from the delivery of work capability assessments in February 2015, a new national provider will be brought in. It is expected that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations will apply and most of the Atos Healthcare employees will transfer to the new provider.

Work Programme

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of staff members employed by contractors delivering the Work Programme are paid less than the living wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation.

Esther McVey: The Department does not hold the information requested.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Affordable Housing

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his policy is on devolution of the Affordable Homes programme to (a) combined authorities and (b) local enterprise partnerships.

Kris Hopkins: Housing policy and the provision of affordable housing is not a function of combined authorities or Local Enterprise Partnerships.
	Elected local councils act as both the local housing authorities and local planning authorities, and we should be cautious about any intervention which effectively transferred power upwards.
	Notwithstanding, in the recent Affordable Homes Programme prospectus, we have stated that local authorities will want to engage in strategic dialogue with their Local Enterprise Partnerships when identifying key areas for economic growth.

Affordable Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what is the average (a) social rent and (b) Affordable Rent is for units funded under the Affordable Homes Programme in each region of the UK.

Kris Hopkins: The information is not centrally held in the form requested.

Affordable Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average housing benefit award is for housing benefit claimants paying Affordable Rent under the Affordable Homes Programme in each region of the UK.

Kris Hopkins: The information is not centrally held in the form requested.

Affordable Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the grant per property was for new affordable housing under the National Affordable Housing Programme, by region, in each year since the inception of the Programme.

Kris Hopkins: Average grant allocated per property for the National Affordable Housing Programme, which operated from 2008-09 to 2010-11, broken down by Homes and Communities Agency operating area, is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 £ 
			 Operating area 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 
			 East and South East 42,692 45,165 39,793 
			 London 83,376 89,381 72,092 
			 Midlands 40,961 40,005 41,942 
			 North East, Yorkshire and the Humber 39,392 37,113 42,744 
			 North West 44,519 42,060 44,484 
			 South and South West 45,284 49,430 47,273 
			 Source: Homes and Communities Agency. 
		
	
	Since 2011, the new Affordable Rent model allows for new affordable housing to be delivered with a lower grant cost to taxpayers.

Care Homes

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will bring forward proposals to amend regulations governing the change of use of residential homes to care homes to promote enforcement of the classification of care homes as C2 residential institutions.

Nicholas Boles: The Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) provides a C2 use class for residential institutions and a C3 (b) use class for houses occupied by up to six people living together as a single household and receiving care. This allows for a mix of types of care homes to meet local needs. Where a change of use has taken place without the necessary planning permission it is for the local planning authority to determine whether it would be appropriate to take enforcement action.

Council Tax

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many summons for non-payment of council tax have been issued by each local authority in each of the last three years.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government does not collect figures on the number of people who have been issued with court summonses by local authorities for non-payment of council tax.
	Notwithstanding, I also refer the hon. Member to my answer of 17 October 2013, Official Report, column 866W.

Empty Property

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with local authorities on charges for property owners who purchase properties with the intention of keeping them vacant;
	(2)  what assessment has he made of the effect of buy-to-leave investments on the proportion of homes standing empty.

Kris Hopkins: holding answer 8 April 2014
	The information is as follows:
	Action on empty homes
	The coalition Government have a comprehensive package of policies to help get empty homes back into use. They include:
	A £235 million empty homes funding programme, which will deliver 12,000 homes from empty properties by March 2015—with apprenticeships on offer to make this happen.
	Rewarding councils for bringing empty homes back into use through the New Homes Bonus—since April 2011, councils have received over £2.2 billion for bringing over 93,000 empty homes back into use, which they can then use to benefit the wider community.
	Giving councils new powers to remove council tax subsidies to empty homes, and use the funds to keep the overall rate of council tax down.
	Cancelling the last Administration’s Pathfinder programme which sought to demolish homes, instead focusing on refurbishment and getting empty homes into use.
	The evidence base
	This approach is working. The number of empty homes has fallen year-on-year since 2009, and is now at the lowest level since 2004. Similarly, the number of long-term vacant properties has fallen by around a third since 2009.
	I note that Islington borough council’s recent discussion paper on so-called “Buy to Leave” tried to use the electoral roll as a proxy for measurement—yet many UK residents of foreign nationality may not be legally eligible to be on the electoral roll, or it simply may not be a priority for such individuals to register.
	Moreover, in relation to London, I have placed in the Library a table showing how the number of empty homes has fallen by 30% since 2009 and by 18% in the last year, including a breakdown by London borough, which broadly shows falls across both central, inner and outer London boroughs. Islington has seen a drop in the number of empty homes of 26% since 2009.
	In that context, the evidence that “Buy to Leave” is a widespread problem is weak. Fundamentally, even where property is purchased by someone of foreign nationality, it will generally be either occupied or rented out, generating an ongoing return for the investor. It is not particularly rational for any investor not to rent out an unused flat and lose rental income, given the strong demand for private rented accommodation, especially in London.
	The small number of foreign buyers
	Even then, the Bank of England recently estimated that foreign buyers represent just 3% of total residential property transactions in London (Bank of England, “Financial StabilityReport”, November 2013). Knight Frank have estimated that between 85% and 90% of new build sales in Greater London are sold to domestic buyers, and there is no indication of a shift towards higher non-resident purchases in the last two years (Knight Frank, “International Buyers in London”, October 2013). Savills have reported that the proportion of sales to overseas buyers in ‘prime’ London markets is no higher than it was in 1990. But they also estimate that, in 2012, foreign investment helped to finance 3,000 new affordable homes and added a further 3,000 much needed new homes to the market-rented sector (Savills, “Spotlight: The World in London”, 2013).
	How foreign investment helps build new housing
	Both domestic and foreign investment in new housing has been helping to provide the finance needed to build it, particularly in a global city like London. Without up-front investment, financiers would not have released the cash needed for development to go ahead, and building would have stalled. These new developments not only provide homes for people to live and work, they also unlock associated affordable housing development. A good example is the Battersea Power Station redevelopment which, having laid derelict for 30 years, is now being taken forward thanks to the combination of private investment from Malaysia and public infrastructure support from the UK Government. Both were essential to move the project forward.
	Marketing new build to local residents
	I would add that the Government have actively encouraged the property industry to ensure that homes for sale are marketed in the United Kingdom, and not solely overseas. In response, the Home Builders Federation announced in December 2013, a new industry initiative which commits signatories to ensure that housing developments in London are marketed in the UK either at the same time as, or in advance of, any overseas launch.
	The Mayor of London has also recently launched a Mayoral concordat on new homes in the capital, writing to key developers across the UK, asking them to sign up to commit to selling new homes on every development to Londoners before, or at the same time as they are available to overseas buyers. The concordat is already supported by the Major Developer Group, London First, the London Chamber of Commerce and the Home Builders Federation and signed by 50 developers in London.
	Tackling tax avoidance
	Of course, it is important that overseas owners of property pay their way. That is why this Government have taken action to tackle tax avoidance by reforming taxation of higher-value UK residential property held by non-natural persons, and also levelling the playing field by introducing capital gains tax on future gains made by non-residents disposing of UK residential property. Last month’s Budget took further steps to discourage the use of corporate envelopes to invest in high-value housing to avoid paying tax.
	More new housing to buy and rent
	As well as tackling empty homes, the Government’s long-term economic plan is increasing investment and building more homes. According to the NHBC, in 2013, new housing registrations rose by 30% in England on the year before and registrations are the highest since 2007; in London, new registrations rose 60%, the highest annual total since their records began 26 years ago.

Families: Disadvantaged

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2014, Official Report, column 56W, on families: disadvantaged, what criteria his Department uses for assessing whether a family has been turned around.

Kris Hopkins: As set out in my answer to the hon. Member for Croydon North (Mr Reed) on 2 December 2013, Official Report, column 556W, the criteria used by local authorities to determine whether a family is deemed turned around are published in the Financial Framework for the Troubled Families Programme's Payment by Results Scheme. This can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-troubled-families-programme-financial-framework

Fire Services: Pensions

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what arrangements are in place for the pension entitlement and employment status of firefighters under the new pension arrangements if they are unable to maintain required fitness levels.

Brandon Lewis: Where a firefighter cannot maintain operational fitness, the fire and rescue authority will assess the reasons for the loss of fitness. Where the loss is due to a permanent medical reason, the firefighter will be considered for ill-health retirement under the rules of the pension scheme. Where there is no permanent medical reason, the firefighter will receive support and training to increase fitness to the required level.

Fire Services: Pensions

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has had discussions with the Fire Brigades Union on calculating pension entitlement for firefighters using length of service rather than age in the last six months.

Brandon Lewis: The transitional protection arrangements for the firefighters’ pension schemes are set out in the Proposed Final Agreement which was published in May 2012. The transitional protections use age to calculate a member’s entitlement to protection.
	There has been recent correspondence with the Fire Brigades Union on the scope and timing of discussions on this issue. Copies of this correspondence are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/firefighters-pension-scheme-reforms

Housing

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much housing stock was held by (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations for (i) social rent, (ii) affordable rent, (iii) intermediate rent and (iv) affordable homeownership in each year from 2010 to 2013. [R]

Kris Hopkins: Statistics on the amount of dwelling stock in England by tenure are published in the Department’s live table 104, which is available at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-dwelling-stock-including-vacants
	This provides the total amount of stock owned by private registered providers (housing associations) and local authorities but does not provide any further breakdown.
	More detailed information on housing stock owned by local authorities, including a breakdown between those for social rent and those for affordable rent, for 2011-12 and 2012-13 only, can be found in the dataset that accompanies the Department’s annual Local Authority Housing Statistics release. Information on housing stock for intermediate rent and affordable home ownership is not collected separately. For 2011-12 and 2012-13, these datasets can be found here:
	Section A, question 2
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2012-to-2013
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/local-authority-housing-statistics-data-returns-for-2011-to-2012
	Detailed information on housing stock owned by private registered providers can be found in the dataset that accompanies the Homes and Communities Agency’s annual Statistical Data Return. For 2011-12 and 2012-13, these datasets can be found here:
	2012-13
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/second-statistical-data-return
	2011-12
	http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/statistical-data-return
	Prior to 2011-12, this information was collected in the Tenant Services Authority’s Regulatory and Statistical return and can be found here:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120419011320/http://www.tenantservicesauthority.org/server/show/nav.15039
	£19.5 billion of public and private investment in affordable homes will deliver 170,000 homes in the four years to 2015. Halfway through, we have already delivered almost 99,000 affordable homes (98,700).

Housing: Students

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance he has given on whether (a) student housing need should be contained within local authority housing targets and (b) proposed student accommodation should be counted towards Local Plan housing numbers.

Nicholas Boles: The National Planning Policy Framework asks local planning authorities to assess the full housing requirements in their area and plan for a mix of housing based on demographic trends and the needs of different groups in the area, including students.
	The recently published planning guidance confirms that:
	‘All student accommodation, whether it consists of communal halls of residence or self-contained dwellings, and whether or not it is on campus, can be included towards the housing requirement, based on the amount of accommodation it releases in the housing market. Notwithstanding, local authorities should take steps to avoid double-counting’.
	The relevant planning guidance, paragraph 39, can be found at the following link:
	http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/housing-and-economic-land-availability-assessment/stage-5-final-evidence-base/
	Student accommodation is also eligible for the New Homes Bonus. Our approach reflects the fact that increases in dedicated student accommodation has a beneficial effect on wider housing supply, by taking pressure off private rented accommodation.

Insects

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to ensure that measures to protect bees and other pollinators are fully reflected in planning practice guidance.

Nicholas Boles: The National Planning Policy Framework sets out our policies for the conservation and enhancement of the natural environment. The biodiversity, ecosystems and green infrastructure section of our new web-based planning guidance explains how these matters should be taken into account in the planning system. DEFRA is consulting on a National Pollinator Strategy and my officials are working with DEFRA officials.

Local Government: Publications

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities publish magazines or newsletters more than four times a year.

Brandon Lewis: holding answer 30 April 2014
	: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 21 November 2013, Official Report, columns 980-81W and my answer to him of 16 December 2013, Official Report, columns 443-44W.
	I also refer him to the written ministerial statement by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, my right hon. Friend the Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr Pickles), of 28 April 2014, Official Report, column 35WS, which outlines the rationale for the steps taken on 17 April, and how we are prepared to take further action against other breaches of the Publicity Code.

Non-domestic Rates

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he is taking to help local shops in (a) England and (b) Lancashire with the cost of business rates.

Brandon Lewis: At the autumn statement, we announced a £1 billion package of business rates support to help shops and local firms. This included a £1,000 discount for two years for smaller shops, pubs and restaurants. Based on local authority reports of the amount of relief awarded, we estimate that 272,300 properties will benefit in England, including 7,740 in Lancashire.
	The support package also included a 50% discount for businesses taking on long-term empty shops, the doubling of small business rate relief for another year, a 2% cap on RPI increases for 2014-15, allowing businesses to spread their business rates payments over 12 months, and allowing ratepayers that take on a second property to keep their small business rate relief for an extra year.
	The Localism Act has also made it easier for small firms to claim small business rate relief.

Regional Planning and Development: Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with Brighton and Hove city council on the finalisation of the city plan for the area; and if he will make a statement.

Nicholas Boles: The Localism Act 2011 has strengthened the role of local plans and abolished the last Administration’s top-down regional strategies. Our streamlined national planning policy framework strongly encourages areas to get up-to-date local plans in place, and we have been actively supporting councils in doing so. Local plans now set the framework in which decisions on particular applications are taken, whether locally or at appeal, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.
	The Brighton and Hove local plan is currently at examination before an independent inspector and it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the content of the plan. However, I understand that the inspector has agreed a programme of additional work with Brighton and Hove council.

Right to Acquire Scheme

Mary Macleod: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations he has received on the potential merits of extending the Right to Acquire to homes built before 1997.

Kris Hopkins: My Department has received a number of recent representations from individual housing association tenants to extend the right to acquire to homes built before 1997, to enable them to buy the home in which they currently live.
	The right to acquire is offered on a different basis to the right to buy, including the level of discount, to reflect the different tenancy and type of landlord. Housing association properties which were not part of a stock transfer have been provided through various forms of finance, including private money. However, the Government are committed to keeping the policy under review and we are open to further representations on this matter.

Social Rented Housing: Young People

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people (a) under 18 and (b) under 16 years of age have been given social housing in the last five years.

Kris Hopkins: The number of lead tenants being given social housing aged under 18 in England in the past five years for which data are available (1April 2008 to 31 March 2013) is shown in the following table. Lead tenants are defined as the most economically active in the household. Numbers shown include lettings from both local authorities and private registered providers.
	The numbers per year and per tenure type are as follows:
	
		
			  Tenant age 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-121, 2 2012-131, 2 
			 General needs Under 18 2,758 2,232 2,108 1,875 1,535 
			  Of which:      
			  Under 16 1 0 0 0 2 
			  Total lettings 264,790 260,235 269,187 270,678 260,530 
			        
			 Supported housing3 Under 18 9,579 8,520 9,384 9,021 7,989 
			  Of which:      
			  Under 16 2 4 6 0 7 
			  Total lettings 114,400 107,520 124,438 123,806 118,213 
			        
			 Total Under 18 12,336 10,752 11,492 10,897 9,524 
			  Of which:      
			  under 16 3 4 6 0 9 
			  Total lettings 379,190 367,756 393,625 394,484 378,743 
			 1 Includes both social and affordable rent lettings. 2 For 2011-12 and 2012-13, age is imputed where missing. 3 Supported housing is defined as housing with special design facilities features, or designated for a particular client group. Note: Values in columns may not sum to totals due to rounding. Source: Continuous Recording of Lettings system (CORE).

Wind Power: Planning Permission

Julie Elliott: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government in which parliamentary constituency each onshore wind planning application which he has received for determination during this Parliament is located.

Kris Hopkins: I can confirm that during this Parliament (since May 2010) 50 onshore wind farm planning appeals have been recovered by Ministers.
	The information is held by local planning authority, rather than parliamentary constituency and a table has been placed in the Library of the House.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the reasons are for the time taken to answer question 191956 tabled for answer on 8 April 2014;
	(2)  when he plans to answer question 194894, tabled for answer on 8 April 2014.

Stephen Williams: I refer the right hon. Member to my answer of 1 May 2014, Official Report, column 803W.

JUSTICE

Legal Aid

Rob Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on ensuring that legal aid is targeted at people with a strong connection to the UK.

Chris Grayling: The Government believe that individuals should have a strong connection to the UK in order to benefit from the civil legal aid scheme and that the residence test we propose is a fair and appropriate way to demonstrate that connection.

Freedom of Information Act

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to bring forward proposals to expand the boundaries of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Simon Hughes: The Government have already legislated to extend the Freedom of Information Act and brought more than 100 additional organisations within scope. We are currently considering ways in which the Act can be extended further to enhance transparency.

Prisoners: Females

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer of 28 February 2014, Official Report, column 548W, on female prisoners, which domestic violence programmes and interventions will be delivered in which prisons in 2014-15.

Simon Hughes: The table shows the recorded domestic violence programmes and interventions due to be delivered across the women’s prison estate during 2014-15.
	
		
			 Programme Establishment 
			 Sexual and domestic abuse in childhood counselling HMP/YOI Styal 
			 Domestic violence-women’s abuse counselling HMP/YOI Askham Grange 
			 Women Ahead Programme HMP/YOI Holloway 
		
	
	
		
			 Power to Change Programme HMP/YOI Drake Hall 
			  HMP/YOI Bronzefield 
			 FOR Project HMP/YOI Drake Hall 
			 Freedom Programme HMP/YOI Low Newton 
			  HMP/YOI Peterborough 
			  HMP/YOI East Sutton Park 
			  HMP/YOI Styal 
			 Athena Project HMP/YOI New Hall 
			 Safe Choices HMP/YOI Holloway 
			 Thyme Project HMP/YOI Holloway 
			 Women's Rape & Sexual & Domestic Abuse Counselling HMP/YOI Peterborough 
			 Bradford Rape Crisis counselling service HMP/YOI New Hall 
			 The Trauma Service HMP/YOI Low Newton 
			 Reducing Re-offending Intervention Fairs (All Pathways covered) supporting women who have been affected by violence HMP/YOI Eastwood Park

Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what rules his Department has in place on the (a) proven and (b) alleged criminal actions of potential bidders for the Transforming Rehabilitaiton programme.

Jeremy Wright: Final bids to run the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are expected in June 2014, and will be rigorously assessed against robust quality, legal, commercial and financial criteria. In the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire, bidders were required to declare that they had no convictions in relation to criminal offences such as conspiracy, corruption, bribery, fraud or criminal offences relating to the conduct of their business or profession and acts of grave misconduct. The MOJ also undertook extensive due diligence of bidders on a range of matters, including integrity and legal compliance issues. As a consequence we have a robust and diverse market and are confident that the bidders who passed the first stage of the competition-the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)-are credible organisations.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate Change: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions on climate change he has had with his counterpart in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey) has not had any recent discussions with Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive on climate change.

Electricity

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 3 April 2014, Official Report, column 991, on energy supply, what the evidential basis is for the statement that the amount of electricity traded on the day ahead market has increased from five % to more than 50 per cent.

Michael Fallon: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave to her on 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 304W.

Energy Companies Obligation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 3 April 2014, Official Report, column 993, on energy efficiency, how many households in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority area have received energy efficiency improvements under the Energy Company Obligation.

Gregory Barker: The Department breaks down the provisional number of energy company obligation (ECO) measures installed by local authority area and parliamentary constituency in its quarterly Official Statistics series:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-deal-energy-company-obligation-eco-and-insulation-levels-in-great-britain-quarterly-report-to-december-2013
	I will be placing copies of the tables showing the number of households in each local authority area (Table 1) and parliamentary constituency (Table 1a) that had ECO measures installed up to the end of December 2013 in the Libraries of the House.

Energy: Housing

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the oral answer of 3 April 2014, Official Report, column 994, on energy efficiency, how many of the 600,000 households that have received energy-efficiency improvements received assistance under the (a) Energy Company Obligation and (b) Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: The number of households benefiting from energy-efficiency measures installed through ECO and Green Deal are published in Table 1a of my Department’s monthly Official Statistics release on Green Deal and ECO statistics. The latest published figures show that, up to the end of February 2014, 569,234 households had measures installed under ECO and 883 had measures installed using the option of Green Deal finance. Some households may have had measures installed through more than one delivery mechanism and there is therefore a small level of double counting. Further installations that have been funded through the cashback scheme are also reported in Table 1a.
	The monthly release can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-april-2014

Energy: Prices

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to his oral contribution of 2 April 2014, Official Report, column 906, on energy price freeze, what the evidential basis is for the statement that energy bills rose by (a) 11% a year in the last parliament and (b) 8% a year in the current Parliament.

Michael Fallon: The following table shows the level of the domestic fuels component of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) at the start of the last Parliament, the start of the current Parliament, and for the latest available data point.
	
		
			 Date Domestic fuels component of CPI 
			 May 2005 59.4 
			 May 2010 99.2 
			 March 2014 133.5 
		
	
	The following table shows the annual compound growth rate in the domestic fuels component of the CPI in each parliament.
	
		
			 Interval Average annual increase in domestic fuels component of CPI (percentage) 
			 May 2005 to May 2010 10.8 
			 May 2010 to March 2014 8.0 
		
	
	The domestic fuels component of the CPI is a weighted combination of gas, electricity, heating oil and solid fuel prices. It is compiled by the Office for National Statistics and tracks how domestic energy prices change over time.
	The compound growth rate shows the average year on year percentage change over the period and is used in relation to energy price increases as they are defined in proportional terms.
	These data are made available in table 2.1.3 of the DECC publication Quarterly Energy Prices, which can be found online at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/monthly-domestic-energy-price-stastics

Fracking

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether hydraulic fracturing will be permitted to take place under property where the owner's consent has not been given.

Michael Fallon: Shale gas and oil operations involve hydraulic fracturing in wells drilled over a mile below the surface. At that depth it is highly unlikely that there will be any negative impact closer to the surface.
	Like most other industrial activities, oil and gas operations require permission from landowners to access their land in order to reach mineral deposits.
	Operators prefer where possible to agree this through negotiation with the landowner, but there is an existing legal route by which they can apply for access where this cannot be negotiated. In this respect, it is already possible for an operator to gain access to land for the extraction of oil or gas without a landowner’s permission through the courts.
	The Government are considering whether these existing procedures used to obtain access are fit for purpose in relation to underground land. We have not yet made a decision on what actions we may take.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Gregory Barker: The Secretary of State reviewed the situation on 23 January 2014 and was content for no action to be taken on this matter.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, columns 307-08W, on children: day care, what the breakdown is for the £500 grants available to set up new nurseries, childminders for disabled children and after schools clubs; how many of the 4,417 applicants continue to have a child care business; and what plans he has for the funding of the scheme.

Helen Grant: The Childcare Business Grants scheme was launched in April 2013 to help those wishing to start a new child care business with start-up costs. To date, 4,501 applications have been received, of which, 425 have been for £500 grants. Information is not available on the number of applicants that continue to have a child care business.
	A breakdown of the £500 grants approved is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Type of grant application Number of applications 
			 Disabled child care 146 
			 Nursery 191 
			 Out of School Club 69 
			 Other1 19 
			 Total applications 425 
			 1 Other (child care on domestic premises)—this category represents childminders working from domestic premises with three or more employees. Source: Liberata, management information. 
		
	
	We recently announced that the scheme will be available for new applicants up to the end of 2014 or until the £2 million fund is exhausted.

Civil Partnerships

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  how many responses were received to his Department's consultation on extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples;
	(2)  when he plans to publish the responses to the consultation on extending civil partnerships to opposite sex couples.

Helen Grant: There have been almost 11,500 responses to the consultation on the future of civil partnership in England and Wales. We are now considering them and will publish a summary in due course.

Civil Partnerships

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to extend civil partnerships to opposite sex couples.

Helen Grant: The Government are currently considering the views expressed by consultation respondents on the future of civil partnership in England and Wales. The Government have not itself proposed any changes to civil partnership.

Civil Partnerships

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps he took to publicise the consultation on extending civil partnerships to opposite sex partners;
	(2)  which hon. Members he consulted about the consultation on extension of civil partnerships to opposite sex couples.

Helen Grant: On 23 January 2014, when the consultation document was published, I made a written ministerial statement to bring it to the attention of hon. Members. This statement was repeated in the House of Lords, by my colleague, Baroness Northover. The publication of the consultation was also announced on the Culture, Media and Sport website. DCMS officials directly contacted around 50 organisations with an interest in the issues and asked other Departments to do the same. Officials also offered meetings to the principal stakeholders, several of which took up the offer, and emailed more than 1,300 organisations and individuals who had registered an interest in receiving updates on equal marriage or related issues and highlighted the consultation in the February edition of the Women’s Engagement Newsletter, which is circulated to more than 2,000 organisations and individuals.

Emergency Calls: West Lothian

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the adequacy of emergency telephone coverage in West Lothian local authority area.

Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has not made any specific assessment of the adequacy of emergency telephone coverage in the West Lothian local authority area. However, the Department and the independent national telecommunications regulator (Ofcom) work closely with all the Scottish emergency services and communications providers on matters such as this through the Government’s 999/112 Liaison Committee. All the Scottish emergency services have been key contributors both in discussions on next generation access to 999 and in reviewing the code of practice that defines how emergency services and telecommunications providers work together.

English Heritage

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with the Local Government Association and local authorities about the proposed remodelling of English Heritage.

Edward Vaizey: Neither the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Sajid Javid), nor I have had any such discussions. However, I understand that English Heritage have met the Local Government Association to discuss the proposals, and the Local Government Association and a number of local authorities have responded to the recent consultation.

English Heritage

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what contingency plans his Department has in place should the proposed English Heritage charity annual revenues be affected by (a) poor weather, (b) a fire at a heritage site or (c) other unforseen circumstances.

Edward Vaizey: English Heritage have developed contingency plans for the new charity addressing the possibility of variances from budget and giving examples of the actions which would be taken in such circumstances. These are based upon the performance of the English Heritage property business over the last 10 years, which has shown consistent growth. They anticipate the effect of weather and changes to patterns of visitation. In addition, once the charity becomes self-financing, it will build up contingencies to protect it from factors such as poor weather or other unforeseen circumstances.

Museums and Galleries

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if his Department will take steps to ensure that publicly-funded museums do not breach new rules regarding the commercial exploitation of designs whose owners have had their rights revived following the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has an arm’s length relationship with its sponsored bodies such as museums and galleries and does not intervene in day-to-day operational matters. It would be for these museums and galleries to act in compliance with the law, including intellectual property law.

Museums and Galleries

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if his Department will take steps to ensure that revenue created by shops in publicly-funded museums and galleries will be safeguarded following the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Edward Vaizey: The Government are keen to support the revenue-generating activities of publicly-funded museums and galleries wherever possible. For most artistic works, copyright owners already need to provide permission before publicly-funded museums and galleries are able to make copies. The change in law will mean that permission from copyright holders will need to be sought for all artistic works.

Radio Frequencies

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of the (a) 30-300MHz, (b) 300-3000MHz and (c) 3-30GHz bands of the radio spectrum is in the operation of the private sector.

Edward Vaizey: Officials have consulted Ofcom who hold such information. Ofcom advise that they do not hold such information for bands below 87.5MHz (as frequencies above this are considered to be the most important and usable), but have provided information for bands from 87.5MHz to 30GHz.
	The table provides an overview of the proportion of total weighted spectrum accessed for market uses by band.
	
		
			 Lower frequency Upper frequency Spectrum authorised for market uses as a % of total weighted spectrum 
			 87.5 MHz 328.6 MHz 47 
			 328.6 MHz 3.1 GHz 73 
			 3.1 GHz 30 GHz 80 
		
	
	The Public Sector Spectrum Release Programme aims to release 500MHz of sub-5GHz spectrum from public sector use by 2020. The most recent Programme update can be found on the gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spectrum-strategy

Radio Frequencies

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of the radio spectrum is earmarked for (a) military purposes, (b) radar purposes and (c) public service broadcasting.

Edward Vaizey: Officials have consulted Ofcom who hold such information. Ofcom advise that they do not hold such information for bands below 87.5 MHz, but have provided information for bands from 87.5 MHz to 30 GHz.
	Ofcom has identified the proportion of spectrum accessed for public sector uses (not limited to the military), defined as all spectrum bands used by the public sector with Crown immunity (i.e. without need for authorisation by Ofcom). For the purpose of this analysis, this category includes all aeronautical uses of spectrum.
	
		
			  Crown use of spectrum as a percentage of total weighted spectrum (%) 
			 87.5 MHz to 30 GHz 54 
		
	
	26% of the total weighted spectrum in the 87.5 MHz to 30 GHz is allocated for radiolocation services/radar.
	Ofcom cannot provide specific information with regards to spectrum in use for public service broadcasting as the national allocation of frequencies does not distinguish between public service broadcasting and non-public service broadcasting. The table below provides information with regards to the proportion of total weighted spectrum in use for terrestrial broadcasting, split into TV and radio.
	
		
			 % 
			  Terrestrial broadcasting spectrum as a percentage of total weighted spectrum TV Radio 
			 87.5 MHz to 30 GHz 8 7 1

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Helen Grant: Check-off is a matter delegated to Departments and it is for them to determine the appropriateness of continuing with the current arrangements. DCMS is in the process of reviewing its current arrangements for provision of check-off.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Alcoholic Drinks: Counterfeit Manufacturing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 112W, on alcoholic drinks: counterfeit manufacturing, if he will carry out an assessment of the (a) scale of and (b) effect on public health of counterfeit alcohol in the UK.

Jane Ellison: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	There are slightly different issues concerning illicit, i.e. untaxed, smuggled and diverted alcohol, or counterfeit alcohol, i.e. attempting to copy existing well-known brands.
	The Food Standards Agency (FSA) works in partnership with all United Kingdom local authorities to tackle the production, distribution and sale of illicit alcohol. HM Revenue and Customs also works collaboratively with other UK enforcement agencies to tackle this threat. The Department of Health is concerned with any implications of these issues for alcohol policy.
	The feasibility and costs of making any reliable estimates of the illicit and counterfeit alcohol markets would need to be considered. Government have no plans to make such estimates, other than the estimates published by HM Revenue and Customs for the illicit spirits market at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/measuring-tax-gaps
	We will jointly keep these issues under review.

Dogs: Animal Welfare

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the effects of puppy trafficking on the welfare of the UK dog population.

George Eustice: A comprehensive risk assessment carried out in 2011 prior to the UK’s harmonisation with the EU Pet Travel Scheme concluded that the risk of an animal with rabies coming into the UK is very low and the risk of rabies being passed from a pet to a person is lower still. The details of this assessment are available at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/animal-diseases/a-z/rabies/
	This risk assessment considered how the risk of rabies introduction from all countries would change based on (a) where the rules are followed with 100% compliance and (b) where the rules are followed with varying degrees of less than 100% compliance. The risk assessment also incorporated both intra-EU and third country movements and its conclusions are valid for animals moving under both the EU Pet Travel Scheme and commercial movements as the risk mitigation measures are the same for both categories.

Drinking Water

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the Drinking Water Inspectorate has conducted any research into the level of psychotropic drugs in UK drinking water.

Dan Rogerson: The Drinking Water Inspectorate has published the results of a study looking at the risk of pharmaceuticals and health care products in drinking water. This included consideration of commonly used compounds that might be considered to be "psychotropic".
	These include carbamezapine (an antiepileptic and mood stabilising medicine) and fluoxetine (antidepressant). Additionally, the study considered the illegal drug cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine (sold as a topical analgaesic). Cocaine and fluoxetine were not detected in any samples. Only minute traces of benzoylecgonine and carbamezapine at levels several orders of magnitude below therapeutic doses were found in a few samples. This study has informed water supply monitoring and risk management by water companies.
	The results of the study can be found on the Drinking Water Inspectorate’s website.

Fisheries

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of trends in the level of fish stocks in the English Channel over the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: At the annual EU fishing quota negotiations in December I secured a deal on quotas for 2014 which was positive both for the sustainability of UK fish stocks and our fishing industry. My position on quotas was based on three clear principles: following the available scientific advice; achieving sustainable levels of fishing (known as Maximum Sustainable Yield) by 2015 where possible and by 2020 at the latest; and reducing discards.

Fisheries

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to preserve and increase fish stocks in UK waters.

George Eustice: The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) makes an annual assessment of the status and trends in fish stocks. This includes assessments for the main commercial stocks in the English Channel. These are available on the ICES website.

Flood Control

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Environment Agency is taking to reduce the time taken to update its flooding maps after the completion of flood defence projects.

Dan Rogerson: The Environment Agency produces and publishes maps showing areas at risk of flooding from rivers and sea, surface water and reservoirs in England. It reviews and updates these maps on a quarterly basis to ensure they are based on the most recent local mapping and modelling information.
	To ensure new flood risk management schemes are included in the map updates as soon as possible, the Environment Agency has put in place changes to speed up the update process, together with a new key performance indicator (introduced in October 2013) specifying that maps showing the risk of flooding from rivers and sea should be updated within six months of completion of a scheme.
	Initial performance has been affected by the development and publication of new maps in December 2013 and by the winter floods, but significant efforts are being made to ensure that new defences will be taken into account more quickly in future.

Floods

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the continued exclusion of borough councils for areas where there is no unitary authority from the definition of risk management authorities in section 6(13) of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

Dan Rogerson: All local authorities are risk management authorities under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. No local authorities are excluded from the definition of a risk management authority in the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
	A ‘borough council’ will either be a unitary authority or a district council. As a unitary authority, it will be a ‘lead local flood authority’, which in turn makes it a ‘risk management authority’ in its own right (the same applies to county councils). Where it is not a unitary authority, it is a district council, whether known as borough council or city council, and so is also a risk management authority.

Floods

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will bring forward proposals to make borough councils for areas where there is no unitary authority eligible to apply for flood and coastal erosion risk management grant inaid.

Dan Rogerson: Borough councils are already able to bring forward proposals working with the Environment Agency and/or the lead local flood authorities, should they wish to seek flood and coastal erosion risk management grant in aid.

Floods: River Thames

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on the Lower Thames Scheme.

Dan Rogerson: Further to my answer to the hon. Member for Windsor on 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 83W, the Environment Agency is continuing to work with partners to develop the River Thames Scheme (Datchet to Teddington). This includes flood channel capacity improvements, property level protection measures and the construction of three new channels.
	Preparatory work, which is under way, includes establishing appropriate consents and approval needed with planning authorities, undertaking surveys needed to gain consents, and the development of a funding package with other risk management authorities. The Environment Agency is planning to submit its Strategic Outline Case for this project to DEFRA as part of the HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office’s Major Projects Authority approvals process.
	The Environment Agency aims to start the work on improving weir capacity in 2016.
	Full appraisal and outline design of the flood channel and capacity improvements will commence this summer. It is expected that this will take three to four years to enable the proposal for the new flood channels to be submitted for planning consents and authorisations. It is estimated that the construction of the flood channel will commence in 2020 and will take five to six years to complete.

Floods: South West

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department has spent on flood defences in each county in the south west of England since 2010.

Dan Rogerson: Flood defences spend is recorded on the basis for Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (RFCC) areas, rather than counties. The south west is covered by the Devon and Cornwall RFCC and the Wessex RFCC. RFCC and county boundaries do not align exactly. Wessex includes parts, or all, of Bournemouth borough council, Dorset county council, Hampshire county council, Poole borough council, Somerset county council, Wiltshire council, Gloucestershire county council, Bath & North East Somerset council, Bristol city council, North Somerset council and South Gloucestershire council.
	The total DEFRA flood and coastal erosion risk management grant in aid spent in each of the areas since 2010 is as follows:
	
		
			 £000 
			  Actual spend Budget 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 
			 Devon & Cornwall RFCC 15,515 16,828 15,729 16,330 11,196 
			 Wessex RFCC 28,368 29,003 20,540 23,119 21,061 
		
	
	These figures include Environment Agency revenue funding and capital grants for Environment Agency, local authority and internal drainage board flood and coastal erosion risk management projects.
	Environment Agency spend on national support costs are not included in the above figures.

Floods: Tonbridge

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will name the lead local flood authority or authorities for the area of the Tonbridge and Malling constituency.

Dan Rogerson: The lead local flood authority is Kent county council. This is defined under section 6(7) of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

Forests

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what amount of new forest has been planted in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: Up to date figures for woodland creation are expected to be available in June this year. In the meantime I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 100W, to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).

Forests

John Stevenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Rural Development Programme for Forestry will announce its amount of funding and how it is to be used.

George Eustice: We announced on 19 December 2013 that we will be investing over £3.5 billion in rural development schemes up to 2020, of which over £3 billion will be spent on improving the environment.
	Our responses to the consultation on implementing the new Common Agricultural Policy in England published on 19 December 2013 and 26 February 2014 provide further information on how rural development funding will be used. These are available at:
	www.gov.uk/government/consultations/common-agricultural-policy-reform-implementation-in-england
	We also announced on 9 January 2014 that as part of the new Rural Development Programme we intend to offer tree planting grants in 2015 in advance of new environmental land management agreements coming into effect in January 2016.
	The new Rural Development Programme that we will submit to the European Commission shortly will confirm the amount of spending on forestry measures.

Greyhounds

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the level of compliance with the Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010; and what assessment he has made of changes in the level of the welfare of greyhounds used for racing since the coming into force of those Regulations.

George Eustice: The Welfare of Racing Greyhounds Regulations 2010 is due to be reviewed next year and this will provide us with an opportunity to see how well it has been working. DEFRA is working with key players in the industry and the welfare sectors to begin the review process.

Insects

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will provide funding as part of the National Pollinator Strategy to create a national insect monitoring scheme.

George Eustice: DEFRA is currently commissioning a two-year research project that will develop and test a new national pollinator monitoring scheme. The project will develop the methods, sampling framework and delivery mechanisms for a cost-effective national monitoring scheme, which will assess changes in pollinator populations and their pollination services. Commissioning of this research is at an advanced stage and the project could start as early as this month. Once contracts are in place we will provide details on our science webpages:
	http://randd.defra.gov.uk/

Insects

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the issuing of planning guidance as part of the proposed National Pollinator Strategy to ensure that future development is beneficial to bees and other pollinators.

George Eustice: DEFRA officials discussed the National Pollinator Strategy in relation to planning guidance with officials at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in autumn 2013. DCLG published the National Planning Practice Guidance in March 2014, which is clear about biodiversity aims.

Mobile Phones

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department has assessed the comparative sustainability of sourced materials and manufacture of smart phones from (a) Apple, (b) Fairphone, (c) Huawei, (d) Lenovo, (e) LG Electornics, (f) Nokia and (g) Samsung in its role in promoting sustainable procurement policies across Government.

Dan Rogerson: DEFRA has not undertaken a comparative assessment of mobile phones from these manufacturers, and does not provide procurement standards across Government or guidance specific to mobile phones.

Pet Travel Scheme

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the changes in quarantine due to be implemented in December 2014 will help prevent commercial dealers fraudulently using the Pet Travel Scheme; and if he will make a statement on the steps being taken to improve enforcement in this area.

George Eustice: A new EU pet travel regulation comes into effect on 29 December 2014 and introduces a number of measures which will strengthen enforcement regimes, in particular. For example, pets being prepared for travel after the 29 December 2014 will be issued with a new style pet passport that will be harder to forge or tamper with. New rules governing the movement of more than five pets will be introduced together with a new requirement for all EU countries to carry out some compliance checks on pets moving between EU member states. A 12-week minimum age for rabies vaccination will also be applied across the EU which will assist compliance checking and restrict the movement of very young animals. The fundamental requirements of the scheme (including microchip, rabies vaccination, pet passport and a waiting period) will remain the same and non-compliant animals will continue to be either placed into quarantine, re-exported or, as a measure of last resort, euthanased. DEFRA will continue to work closely with its operational partners to clamp down on the illegal puppy trade and prosecute those responsible.

Plastic Bags

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it his policy either that carrier bags containing a defined percentage of recycled plastics should be exempt from a levy on plastic bags, or that there should be no such exemptions at all.

Dan Rogerson: We do not intend to exclude plastic bags containing a defined percentage of recycled plastics from the proposed levy on plastic bags. In addition to measures to reduce usage, we will continue to encourage the recycling of plastic bags and we welcome efforts to increase their recycled content.

Plastics: Recycling

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will estimate the number of jobs supported by the recycled plastics industry.

Michael Fallon: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	There is no specific Government estimate for the size of the recycled plastics industry. The British Plastics Federation Recycling Group (BPFRG) estimated in 2011 that approximately 5,000 people are employed directly by reprocessors and exporters of plastic recovered in the UK. The BPFRG also estimates that around 24% of the 5 million tonnes of plastic used each year in the UK is currently recovered or recycled.
	According to the Environment Agency, there were 92 businesses in the UK accredited to recycle and export recovered packaging plastics in 2013, of which 44 were UK reprocessors (National Packaging Waste Database report data accessed 30 April 2014).
	According to the Office for National Statistics Annual Business Survey there were 133,000 jobs in the manufacture of plastics products in 2012.

Sewers: Greater London

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with Thames Water plc on (a) the change in capacity of the sewerage system in London required in consequence of (i) the Mayor of London's revised draft housing strategy and (ii) the projected change in the population of London by 2050 and (b) the role of the Thames Tideway Tunnel in meeting demand for capacity.

Dan Rogerson: The Government have not held discussions with Thames Water on the details of the Mayor’s revised draft housing strategy or any change in the capacity of London’s sewerage system required as a consequence of it. It is for Thames Water to take population changes into account as part of its business planning for the five-yearly price review process with Ofwat.
	However, DEFRA is working closely with Thames Water on enabling construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel. The tunnel will significantly reduce pollution in the tidal Thames caused by sewage overflowing into the River Thames from combined sewage overflows when there is significant rainfall. It will also ensure that London’s Victorian sewerage system, which is currently close to capacity at certain times of day, is able to meet the needs of the predicted increase in population in central London. This is set out in the economic and strategic case for the tunnel, which can be viewed at the gov.uk website.

Waste Disposal: Fires

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 8 April 2014, Official Report, column 211W, on waste disposal: fire, how many of the incidents of fire reported at local authority-operated waste management sites in 2012 and 2013 were repeated incidents at the same site.

Dan Rogerson: None of the five incidents of fire at local authority-operated waste management sites were repeated incidents at the same site.

Wildlife: Africa

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterparts in African countries about numbers of (a) elephants, (b) rhinoceroses and (c) lions in those countries.

George Eustice: The London Conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade, which the Government hosted on 12-13 February, brought together 42 countries, including four Presidents of African states, to discuss the decline in numbers of elephants, rhino and other species affected by the scourge of the illegal trade in wildlife. Conference participants agreed an ambitious political declaration, containing 25 practical commitments to action that will help to eradicate the demand for wildlife products, strengthen law enforcement and support the development of sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by wildlife crime.
	Prior to the Conference, my colleague Lord de Mauley represented the UK Government at the African Elephant Summit in Botswana on 2 to 4 December 2014. This was attended by numerous Government Ministers from across Africa and the status of the African elephant at a continental level was discussed. During the summit, Lord de Mauley held bilateral discussions on illegal wildlife trade issues with the President of Botswana. Separately, he met with the South African Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, Mrs Edna Molewa, to discuss the crisis facing African wildlife affected by poaching and illegal trade. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for North Shropshire (Mr Paterson), also had discussions about the effects of the illegal wildlife trade on numbers of key species with the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Natural Resources, Professor Judy Wakhungu, during a visit to Kenya in November 2013.

TRANSPORT

Birmingham New Street Station

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons are for the changes to Network Rail's planned redevelopment of the western elevation of New Street Station, set out in planning application 2014/02551/PA to Birmingham city council.

Stephen Hammond: Network Rail has proposed a change to the Navigation Street footbridge and the cladding to the existing station building which forms part of the western elevation of the Birmingham New Street redevelopment to deliver a simpler and more cost- effective design.
	Detailed structural analysis has proved that the existing 1960s built structures cannot support the proposed cladding and would need significant strengthening to support the additional weight and loading. This would require extended railway closures causing delays and disruption to passengers.
	The proposed new design would look very similar to the original plan from the street but would be significantly more cost-effective, straightforward to construct and avoid the need for lengthy possessions of the railway below, thereby minimising disruption to passengers. It will continue to be a great improvement over the existing 1960s built structure.

Bus Services

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the document Annual Bus Statistics: Revenue, Costs and Government Support Great Britain 2012-13 will be published.

Stephen Hammond: The statistics on bus revenue, costs and government support were updated in March 2014 and can be found on the Department’s website at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bus-statistics
	in the statistical datasets section.

Bus Services

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much in each (a) funding stream and (b) region his Department has provided in subsidy to each bus operator in each of the last four years.

Stephen Hammond: In the last four years, the Department for Transport has paid funding directly to bus operators in England through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) and the Green Bus Fund.
	Details of BSOG funding paid to bus operators in the last three financial years is available online. It is not possible to provide this data broken down by region or for earlier years. The data are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bus-service-operators-grant-payments-to-english-operators-up-to-31-march-2013
	Details of funding paid to bus operators through the Department’s Green Bus Fund, broken down by bus operator and region, for all four rounds of the Green Bus Fund (which ran from 2009 to 2013) are available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/details-of-the-green-bus-fund

Driving: Eyesight

Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of potential loss of trade to independent high street opticians following the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's decision to award its vision testing contract to Specsavers.

Stephen Hammond: In the past, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) dealt with many individual opticians on an ad-hoc basis. Although the individual cost per optician was relatively low, the aggregated spend on the service meant that the contract had to be tendered via the Official Journal of the European Union process. This is in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006.
	As part of the procurement process, the DVLA identified that 2,009 optical practices carried out vision testing services. The new contract means that independent practices are no longer required to carry out on average 20 assessments per year. This equates to around 10 hours of work.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the final cost of the capital sum to be raised to finance High Speed 2 to (a) Birmingham and (b) Leeds and Manchester.

Robert Goodwill: The current estimated cost of the project is £42.6 billion for Phase 1 and Phase 2 (including £14.4 billion of contingency) and £7.5 billion for rolling stock (including £1.7 billion of contingency). This estimate is in 2011 prices and is at the P95 level, meaning at this early stage of the project there is a 95% confidence level that the project can be delivered for this cost.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the Written Statement of 17 March 2014, Official Report, columns 53-4WS, on the Higgins Review, 
	(1)  what progress has been made on the review of connections from HS2 to the continent announced in that Statement;
	(2)  whether the review of connections from HS2 to the continent announced in that statement will assure the provision of (a) a segregated double track link and (b) any other dedicated railway link between HS1 and HS2;
	(3)  whether the review of connections from HS2 to the continent announced in that statement will take account of potential demand for domestic services between HS2 and HS1; and what assessment he has made of the likely level of such demand;
	(4)  who is undertaking the review of connections between HS2 and the continent announced in that Statement; and when he expects the review to be completed.

Robert Goodwill: The Secretary of State has asked HS2 Ltd and Network Rail to consider how to improve connections between the rail network and the continent, in a way that could be implemented once the initial stages of HS2 are complete. The report will explore options that will stand the test of time and will be completed before the end of next year. The remit of the work is being considered and will be finalised shortly.

Large Goods Vehicles: Speed Limits

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 24 February 2014, Official Report, column 237W, on large goods vehicles: speed limits, what progress has been made on the Government's further impact assessment of increasing the speed limit for hauliers from 40mph to 50mph.

Stephen Hammond: Ministers are giving careful consideration to any potential impacts of raising the speed limit for HGVs over 7.5t from 40 mph to 50 mph on single carriageway roads and a further impact assessment has been undertaken as part of that process.
	I want to make sure careful consideration is given to the evidence of all of the effects of raising the speed limit on the economy, environment and road safety before a decision is made. I will consider the responses received and evidence presented before publishing a response report and impact assessment on our website.

Large Goods Vehicles: Taxation

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 107W, to question 194746, on large goods vehicles: taxation, how many HGVs 94% of UK HGVs paying the HGV user levy represents.

Robert Goodwill: We have estimated that around 259,000 UK HGVs will pay the road user levy. Of these, we estimated that around 94%, or 243,000, will pay no more than now, taking into account the reductions in Vehicle Excise Duty that happened at the same time.

Malaysia Airlines

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what level of assistance has been offered by UK personnel in efforts to locate the missing Malaysian airliner MH370.

Robert Goodwill: The search for the missing Malaysian Airliner MH370 is an extremely difficult and complex operation. The UK has made a number of contributions to the investigation and search for MH370. The UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch has appointed an accredited representative and an advisor to assist in the investigation, and representatives from Rolls-Royce and Inmarsat also provided initial support. Experts from the UK Ministry of Defence, the Hydrographic Office, and the Met Office, have also co-operated with Malaysia and other international partners to analyse available data to help locate the aircraft.
	In addition, the UK deployed submarine HMS Tireless and survey vessel HMS Echo to support the search effort for a signal from MH370’s black box. With the Australian command assessing that there is no prospect of further acoustic detections associated with the aircraft’s black box, HMS Tireless and HMS Echo have been stood down. RAF personnel have also participated in Royal Australian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force operations to search for wreckage of MH370.
	The Air Accidents Investigations Branch, working as part of an international team, continues to give its full support to the investigation and to share its expertise and analysis with the Malaysian authorities and international partners.

Motor Vehicles

David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the responses to the Office of Low Emission Vehicles consultation from organisations that called for artificial sound generators to protect pedestrians.

Robert Goodwill: We received a combined response to our call for evidence co-ordinated by the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, which suggested that all vehicles funded by the plug-in car grant should be required to have a minimum level of noise. As with all responses, we are considering this suggestion carefully as we develop the detailed criteria for our ultra low emission vehicle support package for the period 2015-2020. EU Regulation will require sound-level generators on new types of electric and electric hybrid vehicles from 2019.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many foreign-registered vehicles were reported by the public to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for being untaxed in the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: The number of reports received specifically from the public is not captured.
	The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency records information notified about foreign registered vehicles, including those that are unlicensed, from offence reports provided by the police, other enforcement agencies and sightings from members of the public. Between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2014, 20,349 notifications were received.

Railways

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what total private investment in rail has been in each region of the UK in each year since 2005.

Stephen Hammond: Between 2006-07 and 2012-13 the private investment in Great Britain’s railways amounted to £3,573 million. This includes all enhancements in relation to tracks and signalling, rolling stock and stations and other investments.
	This information is not available on a regional basis.
	Further details of this funding are available on ORR’s website at the following link:
	https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/5cc4eb14-fe68-4b72-aebf-81625df90d86

Railways

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what data his Department collects on private investment in (a) rail infrastructure and (b) rolling stock in each region.

Stephen Hammond: The Department does not collect information about private investment in rail infrastructure or rolling stock on either a national or regional basis.
	ORR publishes data regarding private investment broken down by expenditure type: tracks and signalling; rolling stock; stations and other investment. However, this information is only published for Great Britain as a whole.
	Further details of this funding are available on ORR’s website at the following link:
	https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/5cc4eb14-fe68-4b72-aebf-81625df90d86

River Thames: Bridges

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, column 367W, on the River Thames: bridges, in what year or years the £30 million allocated to the Garden Bridge in the National Infrastructure Plan 2013 is projected to be spent.

Stephen Hammond: Should the business case demonstrate that the project represents good value for money, Government will agree the detailed terms of funding with the Garden Bridge Trust.
	While the payment schedule has not yet been determined. It is likely that the funding will be released in tranches throughout the project, as it reaches agreed milestones.

Roads

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the total cost of the feasibility studies for the (a) A303, A30 and A358 corridor, (b) A1 north of Newcastle, (c) A1 Newcastle to Gateshead western bypass, (d) A27 corridor and (e) A47.

Robert Goodwill: The Department has committed to undertake six feasibility studies to identify and fund solutions to tackle some of the most notorious and long-standing road hot spots in the country.
	Following a process of engagement, the Department published on 23 April 2014 finalised scope documents for each of the studies. The documents are available on the Department’s website at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-road-network-the-scope-of-6-feasibility-studies
	At present, the total costs for undertaking the feasibility studies are estimated at around £2.5 million.

Tractors

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 25 February 2014, Official Report, column 242W, on tractors, if his Department will issue a response to the consultation on raising speed limits for low-speed tractors from 20 mph to 25 mph.

Stephen Hammond: Minsters are giving careful consideration to the results of the consultation on raising speed limit for low-speed tractors from 20 mph to 25 mph.
	I will consider the responses received and evidence presented before publishing a response report on our website.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces Covenant

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department takes to audit or monitor the outcomes of successful applications to the Armed Forces Covenant (LIBOR) Fund.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence administers the £35 million LIBOR Fund on behalf of the Cabinet Office-led Covenant Reference Group. Successful projects are funded on the basis of a standard set of terms and conditions, plus additional measures as appropriate. Those who receive funding are required to produce regular monitoring reports, and to retain financial data for audit purposes.

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 31 March 2014, Official Report, column 443W, on armed forces: disciplinary proceedings, how many cautions are recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration database; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The total number of police cautions recorded on the Joint Personnel Administrative system, since rollout in 2006 to date, is 900 cases involving 870 personnel. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	These numbers are for police cautions issued by the civilian police and the civilian courts.

Burma

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether military training given to the Burmese Army by UK advisers advises soldiers to refuse orders that could result in human rights abuses.

Mark Francois: This issue was covered in a panel discussion during the export version of the Managing Defence in the Wider Security Context course that was delivered in Burma, in January 2014, by a mixed civil-military team from the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom and one of their academic providers, Cranfield university. The discussion sat within a lecture on Rules of Engagement. An international law academic from Cranfield university, who specialises in the law of armed conflict, set out the legal position with regards to obeying illegal orders and the consequences of disobeying them.

Defence Equipment

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how his Department defines the necessary level of human control for the operation of systems such as the Phalanx system in automatic mode.

Philip Dunne: Systems such as Phalanx are part of the multi-layered defence for our Units, which are governed by the appropriate Command decision processes employing Rules of Engagement authorised by the Ministry of Defence.

Defence Equipment and Support

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what changes have been made to the contracts of personnel moved from DE&S to the Navy Command from 1 April 2014 as part of the Defence Transformation Programme.

Philip Dunne: No contracts of employment were altered or amended as a result of the transfer of the Naval Base Operating Centre from Defence Equipment and Support to Navy Command on 1 April 2014 as part of the Defence Transformation Programme.

Defence: Procurement

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessment he has made of the future acquisition requirements for intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance systems.

Philip Dunne: The Department assesses potential future acquisition requirements for intelligence surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (ISTAR) systems as part of the annual Capability Audit process, which considers current and future capability gaps, and the options to fill them. On recent operations the Urgent Operational Requirement (UOR) mechanism has also been used to expedite the delivery of ISTAR equipment to fill such capability gaps in the short-term (such as the REAPER Remotely-Piloted Aerial System). As the MOD reorganises itself for broader contingent operations, the annual Capability Audit process will continue to assess which of these UOR equipments have broad utility and should continue to receive funding. In parallel, separate capability investigations are under way, predominantly in support of prospective consideration during the next Defence Review. This analysis includes the ongoing Air ISTAR Optimisation Review.

Electronic Warfare

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's recruitment targets are for its Joint Cyber Reserve Unit.

Mark Francois: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 56W, to the hon. Member for Makerfield (Yvonne Fovargue).

Electronic Warfare

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on the establishment of a NATO-wide cyber capability.

Andrew Murrison: NATO-wide Cyber Defence is provided by NATO's Computer Incident Response Capability (NCIRC) which delivers centralised protection for many NATO sites. The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) has recently undertaken a major upgrade of NCIRC’s capability with enhancements delivered in monitoring of core networks on NATO sites on a 24/7 basis. NCIA will continue to manage the upgrade of NCIRC’s capability to best protect NATO owned systems from the evolving threat.
	Progress enhancing the NATO Cyber Defence was most recently discussed at ministerial level, at the February NATO Defence ministerial and will be discussed again at the June Defence ministerial as the Alliance prepares for the WALES summit in September. The UK continues to pay a central role in moving this issue forward across a whole range of activities such as incentivising national cyber defence capability development to develop Alliance-wide cyber defence capability, information sharing and exchanging best practice.

Germany

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made in re-basing those elements of the armed forces based in Germany; and what recent discussions he has had with German federal and regional authorities on the practical logistics involved in such a withdrawal.

Andrew Murrison: Significant progress has been made on the withdrawal of British troops from Germany. Having closed Celle Station in 2012, the closures of the Rheindahlen Military Complex and Münster Station were completed in 2013, and Hameln Station will close by December 2014. The programme remains on track to deliver, enabling us to close and release Elmpt and Herford Stations by December 2015, followed by the closure of Hohne and Fallingbostel Stations before March 2016.
	We have already reduced our military numbers in Germany by 33% through the programme of preliminary moves and unit disbandments, and the first tranche of major unit moves and re-roling from Germany will occur in 2015. These moves will result in a reduction of up to 70% of troops by the end of 2015, exceeding the Strategic Defence and Security Review target of bringing back half of those personnel based in Germany by 2015. The remaining troops will relocate by 2019, as part of our intent to base the three high readiness Reaction Force Brigades on Salisbury Plain.
	The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), met with the German Defence Minister, Frau Dr Ursula von der Leyen, on 13 January to discuss a number of issues, including the withdrawal of our troops from Germany. More widely, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) continues to liaise with the German authorities at a number of levels: through Ministers and officials in the UK: the Defence Attaché in the British embassy in Berlin; and the General Officer Commanding British Forces Germany, other regional British Commanders and a network of in-country liaison officers. MOD officials are also liaising with their German counterparts to assist in finding alternative uses for the facilities that will be vacated by the British Forces.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the stealth characteristics of the joint strike fighter against all digital very high frequency active electronically steered radar arrays.

Philip Dunne: It is part of normal MOD business to continuously assess the stealth performance of the F-35 against very high frequency digital radar.

Warships

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the dimensions will be of the cargo lifts on the (a) Queen Elizabeth Class carriers and (b) Type 26 Global Combat Ships.

Philip Dunne: There are two aircraft lifts on each Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Carrier, which each measure around 28 metres long, 15 metres wide, and 2.5 metres deep. There are many other internal cargo lifts installed on each QEC Carrier. I am withholding details on the dimensions of these lifts as release would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
	The T26 Global Combat Ship (GCS) programme is currently in its assessment phase. As is the standard practice with equipment projects, the final design, detailed technical specifications and equipment fit will not finally be set until this main investment decision has been taken later in 2014.

EDUCATION

Academies: Devon

Neil Parish: To ask the Secretary of State for Education which schools in Devon have (a) applied for and (b) received academy status since 2010.

Edward Timpson: Since 2010 the Department has received 72 applications from schools in Devon to convert to academy status; 59 have opened as academies. The details of these schools can be found at the following link, which is updated monthly:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/open-academies-and-academy-projects-in-development

Children in Care: Asylum

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what responsibilities local authorities have to ensure that asylum seekers who are leaving care they entered as a child receive alternative support once they reach adulthood.

Edward Timpson: Unaccompanied asylum seeking children must be provided with the same support as for any care leaver, as set out in Volume 3 of ‘The Children Act Guidance and Regulations: Planning Transition to Adulthood for Care Leavers’1.
	Financial support for looked after unaccompanied asylum seeking children should reflect their needs as eligible care leavers and their immigration needs. As for any relevant child, once an unaccompanied asylum seeking child leaves care or reaches the age of 18, a personal advisor must be appointed to support them.
	1http://resources.leavingcare.org/uploads/c4f7aeaf941cdefb8f4a18f478aa1f19.pdf

Children: Abuse

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received on extending the powers provided to the National College for Teaching and Leadership for the investigation of historical incidents of abuse; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Timpson: The Secretary of State for Education for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has received no representations on extending the powers provided to the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) for investigation of historical incidents of abuse.
	The NCTL’s remit sits within a broad safeguarding framework. The investigation of incidents of abuse by the NCTL historically or current will depend on the nature of the abuse. Where incidents of abuse relate to issues of child protection these would not ordinarily be matters that the NCTL would be directly involved in.
	All employers of people working with children have a statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all individuals who have been:
	1. convicted or cautioned for a relevant offence;
	2.engaged in conduct that has harmed a child or put them at risk of harm; or
	3. deemed to have satisfied the ‘harm test’ in relation to children, i.e. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child still exists.
	The DBS will then consider whether to bar that person from working with children. Alongside this duty, where a teacher has been dismissed or resigned in the face of dismissal for a serious conduct matter, employers have a statutory duty to consider referring that teacher to the NCTL. In circumstances where the DBS decides to bar an individual any ongoing NCTL case would be discontinued. The NCTL primarily takes to a conclusion cases which have not met the DBS threshold for barring.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 284W, on children: day care, how many survey packs were sent out to (a) childminders and (b) parents; and when the surveys were completed.

Elizabeth Truss: The surveys of childminders and parents were not stand-alone surveys but part of a much wider piece of action research by IPSOS Mori and Ecorys to gather findings from childminder agency trials. The surveys of childminders and parents were carried out to supplement fieldwork carried out with organisations trialling and testing elements of the agency model. The surveys were not intended to be fully representative of local populations and sample sizes were small. 1,622 survey packs were sent out to childminders and 3,426 packs were sent out to parents. The final closing date of the survey was 7 March 2014; the research is still being finalised.

Education: Qualifications

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has held with Education Ministers in the devolved legislatures on proposals for English baccalaureate certificates and reforms of A-levels.

Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), met the Minister for Education for Northern Ireland and the Minister of Education and Skills for Wales on 13 May 2013, along with Ofqual’s chief regulator Glenys Stacey, to discuss proposed reforms of GCSEs and A-levels.
	In line with the concordats between the Department for Education and the Northern Ireland Government, we give the Ministers of the devolved Governments advance notice of our intentions wherever possible. Department for Education and Ofqual officials meet regularly with their counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss matters of common interest and share information. This includes GCSE and A-level reforms in their respective Administrations.

Free School Meals: Bournemouth

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what financial provision he is making available to schools in Bournemouth for expansion of kitchens to provide free school meals for under sevens.

David Laws: The Department for Education is providing £150 million capital funding in the 2014-15 financial year to enhance school kitchen and dining facilities across England. From this, Bournemouth borough council was allocated £307,007 capital funding for its maintained and voluntary aided schools, and academies in Bournemouth were able to bid to the Academies Capital Maintenance Fund. In addition, Bournemouth borough council has been allocated £1.6 million in general schools capital maintenance funding, and is free to draw on that to improve kitchen facilities if that is a priority locally.

GCSE: Science

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the written statement of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 1417WS, on qualifications reform, and the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 42W, on in vitro fertilisation, whether the study of the human genome as part of the revised content for GCSEs in science will involve pupils learning that genomic DNA is only found in the cell nucleus and that mitochondrial DNA is not part of the genome.

Elizabeth Truss: The requirement that students study the genome and gene expression in the revised GCSE combined science and GCSE biology criteria covers all organisms, and is not specific to the human genome. It is therefore given at a level of generality that applies to all living things. The only specific reference in this section of the criteria to the human genome is in the context of the statement that requires students to be able to discuss the potential importance for medicine of our increasing understanding of the human genome.
	In developing their specifications which meet these criteria, awarding organisations may choose to include micro-organisms, humans or any other organism when they cover the genome and gene expression.

IES Breckland School

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what reports his Department has published on IES Breckland Free School.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education has published two reports on IES Breckland Free School:
	1. Impact assessment 2012, which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/251383/IES_Breckland-_Impact_Assessment_2012.pdf
	2. Ofsted pre-registration advice note 2012, which is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/191634/ies_breckland.pdf
	In addition to the reports published by the Department, Ofsted published an inspection report on 13 March 2014, which is available at:
	http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/138250

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 24 March 2014 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr M. Barnes.

Elizabeth Truss: The Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), replied to the right hon. Gentleman’s letter on 25 April 2014.

Private Education: Offences Against Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  by what methods the National College for Teaching Leadership gathers information on the risk of sexual abuse at independent schools;
	(2)  what role the National College for Teaching Leadership plays with regard to investigations for allegations of historic, sexual abuse at independent schools for which they are now responsible;
	(3)  what steps are open to the National College of Teaching Leadership on receipt of information of an allegation of child abuse at an independent school.

Edward Timpson: The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) receives and acts upon referrals from employers (including independent schools), the police, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and the public.
	The Teachers’ Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012 provide NCTL with the power to regulate teachers including those in independent schools. These regulations provide for any referral to be investigated regardless of the date of the alleged incident.
	Upon receipt of a referral NCTL make an initial assessment of the allegations to establish whether, if proven, they have the prospect to meet the prohibition threshold using the Secretary of State’s advice ‘Teacher misconduct: the prohibition of teachers’. Where the case is assessed as serious enough to potentially meet the threshold the allegations are investigated seeking representations from the teacher involved and collecting other evidence deemed to be appropriate on a case-by-case basis. On conclusion of the investigation a further determination is made and where the allegations are still serious enough to potentially warrant a prohibition order, the matter is progressed to a panel hearing. The hearing is held in public and the panel comprises three panellists appointed through a public appointments process. The teacher can be present with his/her representative, witnesses may be called by either side, a presenting officer presents the case on behalf of NCTL and a legal adviser is present. At least one panellist must be a teacher panellist and at least one must be a lay panellist. The panel make a finding as to facts. Where the facts are found they go on to determine whether those facts amount to unacceptable professional conduct, conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute and/or conviction, at any time, of a relevant offence. Where the panel determine one or more of the above, they then go on to make a recommendation as to whether a prohibition order would be an appropriate sanction. The recommendation is considered by a senior official of NCTL on behalf of the Secretary of State and is either confirmed or amended.
	The work of NCTL sits within a broader safeguarding framework. Independent schools, like all employers of people working with children, have a statutory duty to refer to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) all individuals who have been:
	1. convicted or cautioned for a relevant offence;
	2. engaged in conduct that has harmed a child or put them at risk of harm; or
	3. deemed to have satisfied the Harm Test in relation to children i.e. there has been no relevant conduct but a risk of harm to a child still exists.
	The DBS will then consider whether to bar that person from working with children. In addition to this, where a teacher has been dismissed or resigned in the face of dismissal for a serious conduct matter, employers also have a statutory duty to consider referring that teacher to the NCTL. In the most serious cases, the DBS decides to bar an individual, at which point any ongoing NCTL case would be discontinued. The NCTL primarily takes to their conclusion cases which have not met the DBS threshold for barring.
	Under arrangements established by the previous Government, teacher regulation was the responsibility of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) and all registered teachers fell within their jurisdiction. However, there was no requirement for teachers in independent schools to be registered, so many teachers in independent schools fell outside professional regulation. We have strengthened regulations so that the NCTL now has the power to regulate all teachers in independent schools.
	Separate to the NCTL process for regulating teachers, the Department’s Independent Education and Boarding Team (IEBT) administers the wider regulatory system for independent schools. This team can receive information about allegations of abuse from a variety of sources, including Ofsted, local authorities, parents and the police.
	In the first instance, the Department will ensure that the actual allegations are being investigated by relevant authorities—the local authority and, where appropriate, the police. It is then the Department’s role to ensure that the school in question is meeting the Independent School Standards. This will normally be done by commissioning an inspection and, where a school is found not to be meeting the standards, taking action to ensure it does so as soon as possible or, if necessary, is closed.

Pupils: Safety

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many and what proportion of the emails sent by his Department to schools on 3 April 2014 setting out guidance on keeping children safe have not been opened by the recipient to date.

Edward Timpson: On 3 April, the Department for Education published updated statutory guidance on safeguarding, “Keeping Children Safe in Education”. On the same day, we e-mailed all head teachers a letter from the Secretary of State drawing their attention to the guidance. We will be publishing this on the website in due course.
	The letter was e-mailed to 31,660 addressees in 25,035 schools. As of 30 April, 13,285 (43.1%) recipients had opened the e-mail, and 9,402 (30.5%) recipients had clicked through to the guidance on safeguarding.
	Other records show that the guidance has been seen by a greater number of people. Between 3 and 29 April, the web page hosting the guidance received 65,729 page views. The Department also published five tweets in support of the publication. These achieved a total reach of 639,315, and the embedded links were clicked 755 times.
	The guidance will also be highlighted in the summer term 2014 schools’ e-mail and Need to Know timelines that will be sent to all schools in May. Schools can also access relevant information through social media, and messages from the Education Funding Agency and the National College for Teaching and Leadership. The Department also sends regular e-mails to all local authorities.
	Officials have also promoted the guidance through various stakeholder groups that work with the Department, including the Headteacher Reference Groups and the Education Forum—members of the latter include chairs of local safeguarding children boards—and they have written to head and teacher unions who met Ministers in January to discuss female genital mutilation and broader safeguarding issues.

School Meals

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department plans to take to monitor how many primary schools offer a hot meal option to all pupils in reception, year one and year two from September 2014.

David Laws: We have made it clear that, as schools implement the universal infant free school meals policy, they should ensure that pupils are routinely offered the option of a hot meal.
	We will monitor the take-up of school meals through the Schools Census for children in reception, year one and year two beginning in the autumn term of the 2014/15 academic year.

School Meals

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what the average cost was of a primary school meal in each local authority in (a) 2012 and (b) 2013.

David Laws: The Department for Education does not hold the information requested.

School Meals

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much he has allocated to each local authority with responsibility for education to expand kitchens in order to provide free school meals for children under seven.

David Laws: Capital allocations to local authorities to support the introduction of universal infant free school meals were announced on 18 December 2013. A table showing the allocation to each local authority is available at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-allocations-for-basic-need-and-infant-free-school-meals

Schools: Enfield

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) managerial, (b) teaching and (c) clerical staff in schools in Enfield were paid more than (i) £42,000, (ii) £69,000 and (iii) £100,000 in the last year for which figures are available.

David Laws: The following table provides the full and part-time numbers of qualified leadership and classroom teachers in publicly-funded schools in Enfield local authority area who are paid salaries of more than £42,000, £69,000 and £100,000.
	
		
			  Over £42,000 Over £69,000 Over £100,000 
			 Leadership 390 80 10 
			 Classroom 580 — — 
			 Total 970 80 10 
		
	
	The information provided is from the November 2012 School Workforce Census. Local authority area figures from the November 2013 School Workforce Census will be published in summer 2014.
	Data are not available for managerial and clerical staff.

Schools: Land

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what his policy is on who is an appropriate person to hold title deeds for schools which are funded by the UK taxpayer; and whether those deeds can be sold or otherwise transferred.

Edward Timpson: The Department for Education does not hold a policy on who an appropriate person is to hold title deeds for schools funded by the UK taxpayer, as the law strictly controls the disposal of publicly-funded school land.
	When community schools convert to academies, the freehold is retained by the local authority and a lease is granted to the academy trust. In some circumstances, the Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), may allow publicly-funded school land to be transferred to a person concerned in the running of an academy. Where this occurs, the transfer will be to an academy trust, which will have satisfied the Secretary of State as to its ability to operate a state-funded school.

Sixth Form Education

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what discussions Ministers in his Department have had with representatives of sixth form colleges on the effect of recent changes to sixth-form funding for students who have severe or complex disabilities.

Matthew Hancock: Last year’s funding changes for students with severe and complex needs were introduced following extensive consultation with local authorities and all types of institutions, including sixth-form colleges.

Special Educational Needs

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much special educational needs funding per head his Department allocated to pupils in (a) Staffordshire, (b) Birmingham, (c) Wolverhampton and (d) the UK in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

David Laws: Funding for special educational needs (SEN) in England is not allocated as a separate amount per pupil. SEN funding is part of the overall Dedicated Schools Grant allocated to each local authority to fund their schools budget. It is for local authorities, in consultation with their schools forums, to determine the individual allocation to schools.

Sure Start Programme

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many properties that were purchased or built with Sure Start Local Programme funding are now owned by NHS Properties;
	(2)  how many properties purchased or built with Sure Start Local Programme funding have been transferred into the ownership of local authorities.

Elizabeth Truss: Data on the ownership of assets funded by the Sure Start Local Programme are held by local authorities.

Teachers

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of teachers who have qualified in the last 10 years have left the teaching profession within (a) two, (b) five and (c) 10 years; and what steps he is taking to encourage greater teacher retention.

David Laws: The following table provides the proportion of full and part-time teachers that qualified in the stated year, entered service in the publicly funded sector in England the year after and were no longer in such service two, five and 10 years later. It is not known whether the teachers who are recorded as out of service have left service permanently or are teaching in another country or sector of education.
	
		
			 Year qualified1 Newly qualified entrants entering service2 Year entered service3 Out of service 2 years later (Percentage) Out of service 5 years later (Percentage) Out of service 10 years later4(Percentage) 
			 2000 17,400 2000-01 15 27 34 
			 2005 26,000 2005-06 15 22 — 
			 2008 25,000 2008-09 14 — — 
			 1 Calendar year in which the teachers qualified. 2 Teachers in part-time service are under-recorded on the DTR by between 10% and 20% and therefore these figures may be underestimated. 3 Financial year during which the teachers entered service. 4 The length of service may not have been continuous; for example not all of those shown as teaching 10 years after entering service in 1997-98 may have taught continuously for 10 years, some may have taken periods of time outside of the maintained sector. Source: Database of Teacher Records (DTR) 
		
	
	The Government are committed to making teaching a profession which can attract and retain the very best people. We are taking every possible step to reduce the amount of central prescription and bureaucracy placed on teachers, freeing them up to act as autonomous professionals. And we are giving headteachers more flexibility to recruit, train and retain the best teachers, including through new school-based training programmes and greater pay flexibility which will allow heads to ensure that high-performing teachers are rewarded appropriately.
	Teacher vacancy rates continue to remain low and have been around 1% or below (of all teaching posts) since 2000. In November 2013 there were 750 vacancies for full-time permanent teachers in state-funded schools—a rate of 0.2%.

Teachers: Qualifications

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what guidance his Department issues on what criteria schools should use when deciding whether to employ an individual who does not possess a formal teaching qualification as a teacher.

David Laws: The Department for Education does not issue guidance prescribing the criteria that schools should use when employing teaching staff.
	The latest school workforce statistics (November 2013) show that the overwhelming majority (96%) of teachers in state-funded schools hold qualified teacher status.
	Headteachers are best-placed to make decisions about the qualifications, skills and experience they need in their teaching staff. They are held to account for those decisions through inspection and the publication of school performance data.

Teachers: Training

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many people were training for teaching qualifications in each year since 2003.

David Laws: The initial teacher training (ITT) census provides provisional figures on the number of new entrants who have started, or expect to start, an ITT programme in England in that academic year; for previous years the final figures are included.
	Figures from 2003 to present are publicly available.
	Statistics from May 2010 onwards are available on gov.uk:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-teacher-training#census-data
	Archived statistics are available on the National Archives:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130401151655/http:/www.education.gov.uk/researchandstatistics/statistics

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Elizabeth Truss: I refer the hon. Member to the response published on 1 April 2014, Official Report, column 632W.

Unemployment: Young People

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of local authorities have higher than average not known rates for young people not in employment, education or training; and what steps he is taking to address such gaps in data.

Matthew Hancock: It is local authorities who are responsible for collecting data about the activity of young people in their area.
	The Department for Education regularly publishes locally collected data on young people’s activities, including the proportion of young people whose activity is not known. The latest quarterly figures covering young people of academic age 16 and 17 as at the end of December 2013 are available online at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-in-education-and-training-by-local-authority
	These include both the average for England and the figures for each local authority.
	The Department published statutory guidance in March 2013 setting out the requirement of local authorities to track young people’s participation so that those who are not in education or training can be identified. The guidance is available online at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/participation-of-young-people-education-employment-and-training

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum: Children

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 111W, on asylum: children, what funding her Department provides to local authorities to help cover the costs of supporting care-leavers who are asylum seekers; and how the Department monitors the use of that funding.

James Brokenshire: Local authorities are able to claim funding of £95 per day for each asylum seeker they support who is aged under 16 and £71 per day for each asylum seeker they support who is aged 16 or 17. Local authorities who continue to support care leavers past the age of 18 may apply for funding of £150 per week for each supported person above a threshold of 25 cases.
	A small number of local authorities receive extra funding because of their special circumstances, for example if they receive an exceptionally large number of cases.
	In order to claim the funding local authorities are required to submit detailed information about their expenditure, to ensure that it is incurred only for supporting cases eligible to the funding.

Asylum: Children

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, columns 352-3W, on asylum: children, if she will publish a breakdown by constituency of the number of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in each of the last 10 years.

James Brokenshire: Figures for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children by parliamentary constituency are not collected by the Home Office.
	The Home Office publishes aggregate statistics on asylum applications from unaccompanied asylum seeking children in tables as_08 and as_08_q (Asylum data tables Volume 2) of Immigration Statistics. Figures based on revised counting rules appear in the latest release Immigration Statistics October to December 2013 which is available from:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2013

Asylum: Housing

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with reference to the National Audit Office Report, COMPASS contracts for the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers, published in January 2014, what steps she has taken in response to recommendations f, g and h in that report.

James Brokenshire: With reference to the National Audit Office Report, COMPASS contracts for the provision of accommodation for asylum seekers, the Home Department has undertaken the following steps in response to recommendations f, g and h in the report:
	f. The Department should work with providers to ensure that they review the arrangements for property maintenance, including the process for managing properties between occupants, and look at ways to reduce the backlog.
	The Department has completed a review of the process used by COMPASS providers to manage property standards and is working closely with all providers to improve the standard of accommodation. Joint housing inspections are now routinely undertaken by the providers' housing officers and the Department's contract compliance teams. Our priority is achieving plans that ensure providers respond more quickly to property defects and to increase accommodation quality over the lifetime of the contract.
	g. The Department should work with providers to ensure that they audit the training of housing officer staff, with particular regard to understanding service users’ needs, and ensure that arrangements for accessing properties are being applied consistently.
	Providers are required by contract to ensure that their staff are adequately trained in customer care and cultural awareness and that they conduct themselves in a polite, sensitive and professional manner. Providers have committed to improving in this area of their service delivery and the Department will continue to monitor this closely.
	h. The Department should work with providers to ensure that they develop appropriate mechanisms to capture feedback from service users about their experiences living in asylum accommodation—for example customer satisfaction surveys or focus groups.
	Customer satisfaction surveys and focus groups do not currently form part of the COMPASS contract. However, the Department recognises the benefits of having an independent measure of customer satisfaction and is committed to implementing this for COMPASS Services. Consultation with providers has started and a process for capturing customer satisfaction is currently being piloted.

Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of her Department to Brighton; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The Department has no plans to (a) relocate staff to Brighton and (b) relocate offices to Brighton.

Female Genital Mutilation

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her policy is on giving consideration in the asylum process to the risk of returning girls to countries where there is a high likelihood of female genital mutilation being carried out.

James Brokenshire: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 March 2014, Official Report, column 685W, to the right hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne East (Mr Brown).

Overseas Domestic Workers Steering Group

David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many meetings of the Overseas Domestic Workers Steering Group have been held since 2010;
	(2)  what the current membership is of the Overseas Domestic Workers Steering Group;
	(3)  when the last meeting of the Overseas Domestic Workers Steering Group was held.

Karen Bradley: The Overseas Domestic Worker Steering Group no longer meets, therefore there is no current membership. The last meeting was on 19 November 2010.
	The Home Office is carefully considering all the recommendations of the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny Committee’s report on the Modern Slavery Bill.

Police: Remembrance Day

Alec Shelbrooke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will require local police forces to cover the costs of police presence at Remembrance Sunday events.

Damian Green: The attendance of police officers at Remembrance Sunday events is an operational matter for individual chief constables. If the organisers of such events request additional policing (referred to as Special Police Services), the relevant Police and Crime Commissioner decides whether to charge for it.

Proceeds of Crime

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the proposal set out in Baroness Newlove's report, Our Vision for Safe and Active Communities, for a Bling Back scheme where money made from selling local drug dealers' assets is handed back to the neighbourhood.

Karen Bradley: There has been a scheme since 2004 whereby a proportion of the proceeds of crime recovered from drug dealers and other criminals are returned to law enforcement agencies. The money returned to law enforcement has been used to support a continued increase in the amounts recovered from criminals and can be invested in community projects.

Smuggling: Tobacco

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the introduction of plain packaging of tobacco products on the work of the (a) police and (b) UK Border Force in combating the trade in illicit tobacco.

James Brokenshire: The introduction of plain packaging is likely to have a limited impact. Border Force does not target on the basis of brand, rather by identifying goods and people that are known to, or may, represent a risk to the UK using analysis and intelligence-based risk indicators to inform intervention at the earliest and most appropriate opportunity.

Smuggling: Tobacco

Ian Paisley Jnr: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations her Department has received from (a) police and crime commissioners and (b) the UK Border Force on the potential effect of the introduction of plain packaging of tobacco products on combating the trade in illicit tobacco.

James Brokenshire: To date our records show no representations have been made by Border Force and police and crime commissioners.

UK Border Agency

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many UK Border Agency staff in (a) Scotland, (b) England, (c) Wales, (d) Northern Ireland and (e) the UK were (i) on zero-hours contracts and (ii) temporary staff in each of the last two years up to the most recent period for which records are available.

Karen Bradley: The UK Border Agency was absorbed into the Home Office on 1 April 2013; its successor business areas are UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement.
	(i) The Home Office and its agencies do not employ and have not employed staff on zero-hours contracts.
	(ii) A geographical breakdown of temporary staff employed in UK Border Agency/successor business areas in each of the last two years is shown at Table 1.
	
		
			 Table 1: Temporary staff in UK Border Agency successor business units 
			   Headcount FTE 
			 Directorate GOR Cabinet Office Temporary Temporary 
			 2013    
			 Immigration Enforcement (a) Scotland 0 0.00 
			  (b) England 9 8.56 
			  (c) Wales 0 0.00 
			  (d) Northern Ireland 0 0.00 
			  (e) United Kingdom 9 8.56 
			 Visas and Immigration (a) Scotland 0 0.00 
			  (b) England 15 14.46 
			  (c) Wales 0 0.00 
			  (d) Northern Ireland 0 0.00 
		
	
	
		
			  (e) United Kingdom 15 14.46 
			     
			 2014    
			 Immigration Enforcement (a) Scotland 0 0.00 
			  (b) England 9 8.56 
			  (c) Wales 0 0.00 
			  (d) Northern Ireland 0 0.00 
			  (e) United Kingdom 9 8.56 
			 Visas and Immigration (a) Scotland 0 0.00 
			  (b) England 9 9.00 
			  (c) Wales 0 0.00 
			  (d) Northern Ireland 0 0.00 
			  (e) United Kingdom 9 9.00 
			 Data source: Data View—the Home Office’s single source of Office for National Statistics compliant monthly snapshot corporate Human Resources data. Period covered: Figures are as at 31 March in each year. Extraction date: 1 April in each year. Organisational coverage: Figures include UK Visas and Immigration and Immigration Enforcement. Employee coverage: Data is based on headcount and headcount FTE of all (paid and unpaid) civil servants with a temporary appointment type. Those civil servants with an appointment type of fixed-term appointment or permanent appointment are excluded as are more flexible resourcing appointment types of loans, secondments, agency and contractors. 
		
	
	Note:
	Office for National Statistics defines temporary staff as those civil servants with contracts of employment of less than one year; staff with fixed-term appointments and permanent staff are reported separately by all Government Departments, as are agency and contingent workers.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Asylum

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on developing international frameworks and forums to provide refugees from climate-induced displacement with legal protection, including legally-worded definitions for such cases.

Mark Simmonds: The Government support work to establish how existing international institutions and frameworks can be used to address climate change induced migration. Refugee status under existing international and EU legislation is based on the risk of persecution, and it is Government policy to avoid developing separate frameworks that could duplicate or contradict this. The Government are also committed to securing an ambitious and legally-binding climate agreement next year at Paris COP 21 to limit the damage caused by anthropogenic climate change.

Business: Human Rights

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the effect of his Department's Action Plan on Business and Human Rights since its launch in September 2013.

William Hague: The UK Action Plan on Business and Human Rights was the first country plan produced, setting out how the Government will implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We reported progress in implementation in the recently launched Foreign and Commonwealth Office Annual Human Rights Report.
	Internationally the UK’s plan has shown our commitment to the widespread uptake of the UN Guiding Principles. Other countries have sought our guidance and advice in developing and producing their own plans.
	The Action Plan has set out our expectations of UK business and industry on business and human rights, to encourage initiatives to introduce human rights due diligence and remedy measures into their policies and operations. The Companies Act now requires listed companies to report on their human rights impacts, and The Home Office published a draft Modern Slavery Bill last December to strengthen law enforcement capability to combat human trafficking and labour exploitation.
	We are committed to reviewing the effectiveness of our Action Plan in 2015.

China

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer of 25 January 2012, Official Report, column 260W, on China: animal welfare, whether his Department has made representations to the Chinese government on standards of animal welfare in fur farms in China.

Hugo Swire: We have not made specific representations on animal welfare in fur farms. However the UK is supportive of international efforts to protect animal welfare. We hosted a high level international conference on the Illegal Wildlife Trade in London in February 2014 where the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), spoke to highlight the importance of action on this issue.
	Over 40 countries, including China, participated in the conference, during which we secured significant commitments, including on the ivory trade, on Government procurement of wildlife products, and on treating international wildlife trafficking as a serious organised crime. We are following up with China and other participating countries on this issue.
	Following the conference, Chinese authorities have passed a new law making the consumption of rare wild animals an offence punishable by 10 years in prison.

Colombia

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings he has had with (a) representatives of the Colombian Government, (b) Colombian civil society and (c) Colombian businesses to discuss his Department's Action Plan on Business and Human Rights since its launch in September 2013.

William Hague: I visited Colombia in February this year and discussed business and human rights in my meetings with President Santos, and in meetings with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Trade, and with civil society. I welcomed the development of the Colombian national policy on business and human rights during these meetings and raised the importance of protecting trade unionists and human rights defenders. We have a strong partnership with the Government of Colombia on implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, in the context of the November 2011 Joint Declaration on Human Rights by the Prime Minister and President Santos.
	In addition, British embassy officials in Bogota have had several meetings with the Colombian Government, civil society and businesses in Colombia to discuss the UK Action plan on business and human rights in line with our commitment to working for widespread international uptake of the UN Guiding Principles and to developing partnerships with other countries to progress this.
	Last year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office funded a project to assist Colombia in drafting its national policy. The Colombian public policy on business and human rights has been formed as a result of consultation across 33 regions and involving over 19,000 people.

Iran

Michael Ellis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will place in the Library an inventory of the property of the Government destroyed by rioters in HM Embassy in Tehran in 2011.

Hugh Robertson: The British embassy in Tehran was overrun by a mob on 29 November 2011, resulting in the withdrawal of all embassy staff. I am placing a list of the property damaged in the Library of the House.

Israel

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Islington of 2 September 2013, Official Report, columns 294-95W, on Israel, what recent steps he has taken to raise allegations of corporate complicity in human rights abuses and international law violations by G4S in Israeli prisons with G4S.

Hugh Robertson: International law does not impose direct obligations on corporations. However, the British Government encourage British companies to show respect for human rights in their operations in the UK and internationally. This is why in September 2013, we launched the UK action plan based on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
	Through the Overseas Business Risk Service, we provide online advice to raise awareness of the key security and political risks which British businesses may face when operating abroad, including in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israel

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has made representations to the Israeli Government on extending to UK citizens of Palestinian origin visiting Israel similar concessions to those Israel has offered to the US Administration in exchange for Israel’s entry to the US visa waiver scheme.

Hugh Robertson: We have not made any representations to the Israeli authorities on this issue.

Israel

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions his Department has had with Israeli authorities on discrimination against UK citizens of Palestinian or Arab origin by Israeli border control.

Hugh Robertson: Our embassy in Tel Aviv raises complaints where British nationals appear to have been subjected to differential treatment by Israeli border control on the basis of their race or ethnicity with the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Middle East

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take in response to the withdrawal of the Israeli government from US-sponsored peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

Hugh Robertson: We remain fully committed to supporting efforts for peace and I will visit the region to that end in the near future. We urge the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to use the coming weeks to find the common ground and political strength needed to resume the peace negotiations and encourage other countries to maintain support for that objective.

Nigeria

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many schoolgirls were abducted in Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria on 14 April 2014; and what reports he has received on their current location.

Mark Simmonds: Approximately 230 schoolgirls were taken. A small number appear to have escaped or been released. There is no confirmation of the current location or condition of those still being held. Most reports suggest the girls were initially taken to the Sambisa forest, where insurgents are believed to have a number of camps. The girls may have now been split into several smaller groups.

Nigeria

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss the abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok in north-eastern Nigeria on 14 April 2014 at the next European Union meeting of Foreign Ministers.

Mark Simmonds: We expect the next Foreign Affairs Council to focus on Ukraine. Nigeria is not currently on the agenda. Our high commissioner in Abuja has discussed the abductions with his EU colleagues.

Nigeria

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last discussed with his Nigerian counterpart the recent abduction of schoolgirls in that country; and when he next intends to raise this issue.

Mark Simmonds: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), spoke to Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs on 18 April about the case. The Foreign Secretary expressed the UK’s sympathies about this outrageous crime and offered UK assistance to Nigerian efforts to recover the girls.
	Officials at our high commission in Abuja have met their Nigerian security and military counterparts regularly since the abductions and have repeated the Foreign Secretary’s offer of assistance.

Occupied Territories

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to his Israeli counterpart on the demolition on 2 and 3 April of EU-funded projects in Area C near the E1-settlement bloc; and whether he has demanded compensation following these actions.

Hugh Robertson: We have not made representations in response to the specific demolition cited, nor demanded compensation. However, officials from our embassy in Tel Aviv most recently raised the issue of demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the office of Prime Minister Netanyahu on 1 May. We regularly make clear, publicly and privately, to Israel our serious concerns about the demolition of Palestinian homes and infrastructure and forced transfer of population in Area C and East Jerusalem.

Occupied Territories

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support his Department gives alongside UK non-governmental organisations operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories to assist in obtaining compensation from the Israeli authorities for projects demolished in Area C.

Hugh Robertson: We have not provided support to non-governmental organisations operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) to assist in obtaining compensation from the Israeli authorities for projects demolished in Area C. However, we continue to support Palestinians facing demolition or eviction orders in the OPTs through support to the Norwegian Refugee Council legal aid programme, which helps individuals to challenge these in the Israeli legal system.

St Lucia

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has had with the St Lucia Government on delays in the criminal justice system in homicide cases in that country.

Mark Simmonds: Our officials have had a number of discussions with the Government of St Lucia about delays in the criminal justice system, particularly in relation to cases involving British nationals. In December last year, our high commissioner to St Lucia raised the issue with the St Lucian Home Affairs Minister and in April 2014, the British resident commissioner raised the issue with the St Lucian Prime Minister. I also wrote to the Prime Minister of St Lucia in September about the delays in the criminal justice system.
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office supports wider government efforts to build the St Lucian Government’s capacity to prosecute serious crime. This includes the deployment of a Crown Prosecution Service criminal justice adviser (CJA) to the Eastern Caribbean. The CJA provides strategic analysis and advice to politicians and practitioners (judiciary, prosecutors and investigators) in order to improve the efficiency of the justice system and remove blockages to effective prosecutions.

St Lucia

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he is making to encourage the Government of St Lucia to take steps to progress the trial of the defendants accused of murdering Gloria Greenwood.

Mark Simmonds: As soon as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was informed of the death of a British national, consular officials contacted the St Lucian authorities about the investigation into Mrs Greenwood’s tragic death. They remain in regular contact. Most recently, St Lucia’s Crown Prosecution Service informed our officials that a pre-trial hearing had been adjourned until 8 May. We will continue to press upon the St Lucian authorities the importance we place on bringing this case to trial. Consular officials have updated Mrs Greenwood’s family and continue to provide full consular assistance.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Hugh Robertson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office recently reviewed the check-off arrangements and is considering the findings of that review.

Ukraine

Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received advice on the legality of the removal from power of President Yanukovich, pursuant to Article 111 of the Constitution of Ukraine.

David Lidington: The Government are not in a position to comment on the legal system in Ukraine. On 21 February, agreement was reached between the then opposition leaders and the then President, Viktor Yanukovych to resolve the political crisis afflicting Ukraine by: signing a new law within 48 hours to reinstate the 2004 Constitution; holding pre-term presidential elections in 2014; and conducting a comprehensive constitutional reform. However, later that day Yanutouych fled Kyiv, abandoning his office as Head of State and was therefore not in a position to fulfill the obligation he undertook to sign the law reinstating the 2004 constitution.
	As the Ukrainian Government had already been dissolved by Yanukovych, Parliament was the only legitimate state body remaining. In view of Yanukovych’s action to effectively remove himself from office, Parliament approved a Bill to remove Yanukovych from power, appoint an acting president and, in line with the constitution, to hold presidential elections within 90 days. The Bill was approved by an overwhelming majority, including by representatives of Yanukovych’s Party of the Regions which remains the largest faction in the Rada.

Western Sahara

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will take steps to establish a sustained, independent and impartial human rights monitoring mechanism, covering both the territory and the camps of Western Sahara.

Hugh Robertson: Her Majesty’s Government strongly encourage progress towards effective human rights monitoring in Western Sahara and the refugee camps in Tindouf. The UN Security Council has welcomed Morocco’s recent positive steps in this regard including strengthening the National Council on Human Rights and working with the Special Procedures of the United Nations Human Rights Council, including the visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights planned for 2014. We also welcome Morocco’s recent commitments to investigate complaints of human rights violations made to the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) within three months, and to end military tribunal trials for civilians. We regularly raise human rights during dialogue with the parties to the dispute over the territory, and in discussions at the UN Security Council. I raised human rights issues during my visit to Morocco in March.

Zimbabwe

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information his Department holds on how many UK citizens are not being paid those Zimbabwean Government pensions to which they are entitled; and what steps the UK Government is taking to end that default.

Mark Simmonds: The Overseas Service Pensioners Association (OSPA) have estimated that there are approximately 1,250 to 1,500 pensioners who are entitled to a pension from the Government of Zimbabwe, of whom 300 to 400 are estimated to be resident in the UK. This is unverified by the Government of Zimbabwe.
	The payment of Zimbabwe public service pensions is the responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe. We appreciate the frustration and financial burden the non-payment of pensions puts on many pensioners and have continually pressed the Government of Zimbabwe to fulfil their obligations.

Zimbabwe

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when officials of his Department in Harare last met the Zimbabwean government director of pensions to discuss distribution of the funds reserved for payment to overseas pensioners; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Simmonds: We continue to pursue a resolution to the non-payment of Zimbabwe civil servant pensions and are in regular contact with the interested parties, including the Overseas Service Pensioners Association (OSPA) and the Federal Pensioners Association in Harare.
	UK officials last spoke with the Director of Pensions at the end of January and are still pursuing a response from the Zimbabwean Civil Service Commission to our letter from December 2013. We have also raised the issue since with other interlocutors, including the Zimbabwean ambassador in London.

Zimbabwe

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date officials of his Department were informed that arrangements had failed for a commercial bank to facilitate payments to overseas pensioners out of funds reserved by the Government of Zimbabwe; and when he expects an alternative service provider to be in place.

Mark Simmonds: We were in regular contact with the commercial bank following the request by the Government of Zimbabwe to facilitate the payment of pensions. They formally confirmed to the Government of Zimbabwe on 6 November that they were unable to act as the service provider, though had informed us of this decision in the preceding weeks.
	The payment of Zimbabwe public service pensions is the responsibility of the Government of Zimbabwe. We will continue to encourage them, and any possible service provider, to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Agriculture

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment her Department has made of the work undertaken by the Sustainable Harvest Group on assisting land husbandry and sustainable crop yields.

Lynne Featherstone: No assessment has been made of the work undertaken by the Sustainable Harvest Group on assisting land husbandry and sustainable crop yields.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to (a) prevent forced displacement induced by climate change and (b) otherwise assist affected populations.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK’s £3.87 billion International Climate Fund (ICF), managed by DFID, aims, among other things, to prevent climate-induced migration in two ways. Firstly, by providing support for emissions reductions to limit the levels of climate change. This is by far the most effective way of reducing the numbers of people displaced by climate change.
	Secondly, providing 50% of ICF funds to help over 20 million of the most climate vulnerable people adapt to the impacts of climate change and avoid being displaced. For example; reducing the impacts of floods and droughts, introducing climate resilient crops, and providing insurance against climate-induced crop failures.

Developing Countries: Disability

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to promote the rights of women with disabilities and to ensure such women are empowered and achieve gender equality to the same extent as women without disabilities.

Justine Greening: DFID has put girls and women at the heart of international development and is committed to working with the Governments of developing countries to ensure that the issues faced by all vulnerable girls and women, including those with disabilities, are addressed in its programmes.
	On 13 May 2014, the International Development (Gender Equality) Act 2014 will come into law. This means that before development or humanitarian assistance is provided, the impact on gender equality including for men and women with disabilities must be considered within the poverty focus of the International Development Act.

Developing Countries: Disability

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps she is taking to emphasise the importance of education provisions and support for disabled children, their teachers and families in order to ensure that Millennium Development Goal 2 is attained.

Justine Greening: The UK Government’s programmes and partnerships are focused on ensuring better inclusion of children with disabilities. For example, the Girls’ Education Challenge is supporting over £9 million of disability-focused programmes.
	In September 2013 we announced two additional commitments to step up our support; ensuring all DFID funded education construction is fully accessible and improving data on children with disabilities.

Developing Countries: Disability

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to ensure that people with one or more physical, sensory, intellectual or mental health impairments are explicitly mentioned in the Sustainable Development Goals and their attendant targets and indicators;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to ensure that people (a) with disabilities and (b) affected by disabilities are given full consideration in the Sustainable Development Goals and their attendant targets and indicators.

Justine Greening: The UK is pushing for the principle of ‘Leave no one behind’ to be included in the MDGs successor development framework, which was a central element of the report prepared for the UN Secretary General by the High Level Panel, co-chaired by the Prime Minister. We should ensure that no person, regardless of disability, is denied universal human rights and basic opportunities.

Ethiopia

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assistance her Department has provided to the Rema project to introduce sustainable solar lighting in Ethiopia.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK has not provided any direct support to the projects that have provided solar energy in Rema, Ethiopia.

Malawi

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much her Department allocated in support to Malawi in each of the last five years; and what proportion of this funding was intended for use by (a) the Malawi Government and (b) non-governmental organisations working in the country.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government have provided the following support:
	
		
			 DFID Malawi Programme Spend 
			 £ million 
			 Channel 2013-14 2012-13 2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 Total 
			 Malawi Government 18.2 76.3 36.7 59.5 75.2 265.9 
			 Non-Governmental Organisations 17.7 12.2 9.5 6.7 3.7 49.8 
		
	
	Information regarding specific projects is available on the Development Tracker:
	www.dfid.gov.uk

Nigeria

Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to support the Nigerian Government in their efforts to protect schools in north-eastern Nigeria and to re-open schools that have closed for security reasons.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID is supporting the Nigerian Government to reduce instability in the north-east of Nigeria, helping to provide a more stable and secure environment for schools to operate. This approach includes DFID Nigeria’s Stability and Reconciliation Programme, which promotes conflict resolution and supports local organisations to tackle violence against women and girls. DFID also supports the Presidential Initiative for the North East, which is promoting economic recovery and meeting basic needs, including education.
	DFID’s education programme operates in eleven states in Nigeria, including the north-eastern state of Bauchi. Here DFID is working with UNICEF and the state government to improve girls’ access to better education.

Overseas Aid: Disability

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department will take to engage with smaller (a) international non-government organisations and (b) non-governmental organisations in its future work on disability.

Justine Greening: DFID already works closely with many INGOs and NGOs working on disability. In the UK, the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for International Development chairs regular civil society outreach meetings with UK-based NGOs working on disability, and DFID officials work with BOND’s Disability and Development umbrella group for NGOs. Similarly, DFID country offices work closely with local civil society organisations, including those working on disability.

Overseas Aid: Disability

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make accessibility and coverage of disability a core element of all her Department's funded programmes and monitor this across all currently funded programmes.

Justine Greening: DFID carries out country-level poverty analysis and social impact appraisal of all UK-supported development programmes to ensure the benefits of development and poverty reduction are inclusive.

Overseas Aid: Disability

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many full-time equivalent staff in her Department have responsibility for disability policy.

Justine Greening: DFID has a core team of disability experts who provide specific guidance on disability across different sectors. In addition, there are 80 social development advisors who have responsibility for considering social development—including disability—across all aspects of policy and programming in DFID’s devolved structure; and one full-time equivalent staff working on central disability policy.

Pacific Islands

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, columns 568-9W, on Pacific Islands, to question 196375, how much support and under what categories her Department gave directly to Pacific Island countries in 2013-14.

Alan Duncan: I refer the hon. Member to the oral answer given to her by the Secretary of State for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Putney (Justine Greening), on 5 March 2014, Official Report, column 871.

Peru

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what research support her Department provides on the potential effect of climate change on sustainability of agriculture in the Peruvian Altiplano.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID supports international agricultural research through a number of channels. For example, it is one of the largest funders of the CGIAR, a global agricultural research partnership. The CGIAR undertakes research through its programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), which includes a component that works with farmers in the Altiplano to understand their strategies for coping with climate variability.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether her Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Alan Duncan: These arrangements are kept under review.

Uganda

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which civil society organisations her Department supports in Uganda; and what policy each such organisation has towards the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK funds a number of civil society organisations in Uganda, including around 70 through the multi-donor Democratic Governance Facility. DFID has assessed our programme to ensure that UK aid could continue to be spent effectively and with maximum impact, and to ensure it was not being provided to organisations that proactively and publically promoted the Act. Following this, the UK and other donors agreed to indefinitely suspend funding through the Democratic Governance Facility to one organisation. We will continue to monitor this situation. The UK strongly opposes discrimination on any grounds.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Adult Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what criteria were used for targeting the Skills Funding Agency's reduction in funding for adult qualifications; and what account the decisions to reduce that funding took of each such course's effect on (a) skills development and (b) employability of participants.

Matthew Hancock: The Skills Funding Agency’s review of vocational qualifications is not about a reduction in funding. Within agreed budgets, the review has sought to ensure funding is redirected in support of qualifications which are high-quality, demanded by learners and valued by employers. The Agency has removed these low-quality qualifications from the scope of public funding to ensure we only fund those vocational qualifications which are recognised by employers and enable someone to be employable in a particular occupation or sector. The goal is to promote both the skills development and employability of participants.

Apprentices

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will undertake a comparative assessment of Government spending on apprenticeships in the UK and Germany.

Matthew Hancock: A wide variety of public sources frequently make comparative assessment of international apprenticeships systems.

Apprentices

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what incentives his Department has made available to small and medium-sized businesses to take on apprentices.

Matthew Hancock: We introduced the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers, providing £1,500 payments to encourage and support smaller employers to take on young apprentices. The 2014 Budget made available £170 million additional funding over 2014-18, which will provide over 100,000 additional incentive payments.
	This is in addition to wider steps taken to make apprenticeships more attractive and accessible by simplifying the recruitment process and removing unnecessary bureaucracy.

Bankruptcy

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the monetary value to the wider economy of a bankruptcy restriction order or undertaking.

Jennifer Willott: No monetary value assessment to the wider economy of a bankruptcy restrictions order or undertaking has been undertaken.

Copyright

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when the Intellectual Property Office’s response to its call for evidence on the effect of the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 will be published.

David Willetts: The Government are drawing on responses to our call for evidence on transitional provisions for the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to inform our forthcoming consultation on the issue. The Government are currently carrying out further work to develop assessments of various options for transitional provisions, and intend to publish our consultation document and accompanying impact assessment later this year.

Copyright

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to ensure a smooth and effective transitional period for the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

David Willetts: The Government are committed to consulting on how and when to introduce the repeal of section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to ensure a fair and proportionate transitional period.
	The first stage of this consultation process was a call for evidence which was launched in October 2013. The Government have reviewed the responses and are preparing an impact assessment and consultation document that will allow the Government to make proposals on transitional provisions and consult on these.

Disabled Students’ Allowances

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what his plans are for the future of the disabled students' allowance; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: I refer the right hon. Member to the written statement I made on 7 April 2014, Official Report, columns 1-2WS.

Disabled Students’ Allowances

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to disabled students' allowances on the number of disabled students completing higher or further education;
	(2)  whether he has carried out an equalities impact assessment of the changes to disabled students' allowances which were announced on 7 April 2014.

David Willetts: The announced changes to disabled students' allowances (DSAs) will be subject to a full equality analysis to determine the impact of these changes on students with protected characteristics. The equality analysis will be given full consideration before regulations are laid before the House.
	These changes will apply to all full-time, full-time distance learning, part-time and postgraduate students in higher education applying for DSA for the first time from the 2015/16 academic year. DSAs are not available to further education students, as the Government provide learning support funding to further education colleges and providers to help meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

Disclosure of Information

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2014, Official Report, column 793W, on disclosure of information, when he expects the Government's response to the Whistleblowing Framework call for evidence will be published.

Jennifer Willott: The Government response is currently being finalised and will be published soon.

Education: Prisons

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many prisoners did not have (a) Key Stage 1, (b) Key Stage 2 and (c) Key Stage 3 qualifications in (i) English and (ii) mathematics when they entered prison in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many prisoners reached (a) Key Stage 1, (b) Key Stage 2 and (c) Key Stage 3 qualifications in (i) English and (ii) mathematics whilst in prison in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: We do not centrally hold information on prior attainment.
	Work is under way to introduce, this summer, mandatory education assessment by the Offenders’ Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) provider for all newly-received prisoners. This will ensure that all offenders, not just those that go on to learning, receive a learning assessment (focused around English and maths, but also covering learning difficulties and disabilities).
	Table 1 shows Offender Learner English and Maths Achievements for the 2012/13 academic year. The data are broken down by Level rather than Key Stage as this is the appropriate measure for further education qualifications.
	
		
			 Table 1: Offender Learners—English and Maths achievements by level, 2012/13 
			 Level English Maths 
			 Entry level 5,100 5,250 
			 Level 1 3,550 4,020 
			 Level 2 1,280 1,930 
			 Total 9,300 10,100 
			 Notes: 1. The data source is the Individualised Learner Record. 2. Volumes are rounded to the nearest ten except for the Grand Totals which are rounded to the nearest hundred. 3. Learners undertaking courses at more than one level will be counted once for each applicable level, but once only in the Total. 4. Offender learners are defined as offenders aged 18 or over that participated in Skills Funding Agency funded learning while in the prison system. These offenders were funded via the Offenders' Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) budget. 
		
	
	Information on Offender Learner English and maths achievements by level for 2010/11 and 2011/12 is published as a Supplementary Table to a Statistical First Release. Data for earlier years are not available on a comparable basis.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/284253/January2013_OLASS_Participation_Achievement.xls
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/fe-data-library-further-education-and-skills

Export Credit Guarantees

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the default rate has been on each of the Government's export guarantee funds since May 2010.

Michael Fallon: UK Export Finance (UKEF) supports UK exports, principally through the provision of guarantees to banks extending loans to overseas buyers and insurance to UK exporters against the risk of non-payment. From 1 May 2010 to 31 March 2014, the percentage of guarantees and insurance policies issued by UKEF that have subsequently defaulted resulting in a claim being paid, or where a claim is currently under examination, is 0.2%.
	Given the tenor of transactions that UKEF typically supports, which can be up to 15 years, an in-year default rate does not give a clear indicator of the performance of UKEF’s portfolio. In accordance with the financial objectives and risk measures agreed with HM Treasury, UKEF measures the Expected Loss of its portfolio. Expected Loss is the statistical estimate of the amount of UKEF’s contingent liability which could be expected to turn into claims that are irrecoverable. Full details of UKEF’s performance and risk management can be found in its annual report and accounts, which is available in the Libraries of the House.

Exports: Government Assistance

Christopher Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many businesses received support through the UK Guarantees Exports Refinancing Facility in 2013-14.

Michael Fallon: Following the Chancellor’s announcement in the 2014 Budget, UK Export Finance formally launched the Export Refinancing Facility (ERF) on 30 April 2014.
	ERF is aimed at supporting UK bids for projects that require finance above $150 million. As these projects typically involve lengthy contract negotiations, it may be some time before we see a pipeline of deals that benefit from the ERF.

Fire Prevention: Furniture

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential effects of amending the Furniture and Furnishing (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 on the number of house fires.

Michael Fallon: BIS is currently exploring options for a revised match test in the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988. It will not have a material effect on the fire safety of UK domestic upholstered furniture, but could lead to a small overall decrease in house fires as it will include currently unregulated materials in products which can contribute to the ignitability of furniture. The test will also reduce the levels of flame retardant chemicals in UK furniture. These contribute to smoke toxicity when burned and can have adverse effects on human health and the environment when they break down into constituent parts. These changes should bring savings to the industry of £30-50 million a year.

Foreign Investment in UK

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure that as economic recovery takes hold proportionately more inward investment will be directed to areas beyond the South East.

Michael Fallon: UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has overall responsibility within Government for the attraction and retention of foreign direct investment across the UK. UKTI works in partnership with each of the Local Enterprise Partnerships in England, and through representatives of each of the devolved Administrations and London, to maximise the potential of the UK to attract inward investment. UKTI operates under the “UK First” principle, providing foreign investors with all the information and advice necessary to ensure that the UK is the preferred global location for their investment.
	UKTI is supporting cross-Government efforts to rebalance the economy in line with the Government’s Industrial Strategy. For example, UKTI focuses on promoting the UK’s strengths in industry sectors, such as advanced manufacturing and food and drink, where the opportunities for the UK to compete for foreign direct investment projects are often in areas beyond the South East. In 2012/13, UKTI recorded a total of 1,599 inward investment projects won for the UK, including 67 projects in Wales, 38 projects in Northern Ireland, 111 projects in Scotland, 759 projects in England (excluding London) and 584 projects in London.

Further Education

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to put in place an inspection regime for the quality of education at private further education colleges.

Matthew Hancock: There are no plans to change the remit of the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) inspection regime.

Further Education

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the budget for further education was in 2005-06.

Matthew Hancock: The budget for further education in 2005-06 was published in the 2005 Departmental Report for the Department for Education and Skills. Please see Section E—Annexes. This report is now available on the gov.uk website:
	www.gov.uk
	The total resource budget for further education, adult learning and skills and lifelong learning for 2005-06 was £9,139 million.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-education-and-skills-departmental-report-2005

Higher Education

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Government spent on full-time university education for undergraduates in 2013-14.

David Willetts: Full-time undergraduate student support expenditure by the Student Loans Company for the 2013-14 financial year included £8.9 billion of cash outlay on maintenance and fee loans and £1.9 billion of grant expenditure (on maintenance grants and other allowances). These totals include expenditure on English-domiciled students in the UK and EU students in England.
	For the financial year 2013-14, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) estimates that £2.1 billion of the expenditure set out in the 2014 grant letter refers to teaching grant for full-time undergraduate study. It is not possible to calculate a full-time undergraduate share of every element of recurrent teaching grant such as senior professional pay, teaching strategy funding, institution-specific initiatives or additional funding for equivalent level qualifications and vulnerable science subjects.
	The figures do not include expenditure by other Governments Departments.

Holiday Leave

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the level of denial of paid statutory holiday entitlement in the workplace; and what steps he is taking to tackle such a refusal of statutory rights.

Jennifer Willott: The Working Time Regulations entitle all workers in the UK to 5.6 weeks paid annual leave. This is an important right, and evidence suggests that the number of employees not taking it is very small. Labour Force Survey analysis shows that the vast majority of workers (95%) report receiving their entitlement to paid leave. Similarly the 4th Work Life Balance Employees survey indicates that 93% of employees receive their full statutory annual leave entitlement.
	Statutory holiday entitlement can be calculated online at:
	www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holiday-entitlement
	Workers who think they may not be receiving their full statutory entitlement should contact the Pay and Work Rights Helpline on 0800 917 2368, or ACAS:
	www.acas.org.uk
	for free and confidential advice.

Insolvency

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much the Insolvency Service paid for fruitless payments in respect of individual and corporate insolvencies in each of the last five years.

Jennifer Willott: The information requested is presented in the following table.
	
		
			  Amount paid (£) Number of cases 
			 2012-13 172,560.24 55 
			 2011-12 247,231.73 100 
			 2010-11 279,527.57 93 
			 2009-10 575,783.47 80 
			 2008-09 256,956.93 41

Insolvency

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) official receivers and (b) all Insolvency Service officials who will receive training leading to a (i) personal insolvency partial licence and (ii) corporate insolvency partial licence.

Jennifer Willott: The legislation relating to official receivers and Insolvency Service technical staff does not require study to hold an insolvency practitioners’ licence and, as such, no staff will receive training that will lead to either a personal insolvency partial licence or a corporate insolvency partial licence.
	Under S399(1) of the Insolvency Act 1986 “………the official receiver, in relation to any bankruptcy, winding up, individual voluntary arrangement, debt relief order or application for such an order is any person who by virtue of the following provisions ………….is authorised to act as the official receiver ………..” and S399(2) “The Secretary of State may ……. appoint persons to the office of official receiver ……………….”.
	All technical staff are required to study for, and pass, a bespoke accredited training programme at qualifications and credit framework level 3 and are required to undertake a minimum of five days continuous professional development per year.
	Incidentally, over 50% of official receivers hold a professional qualification e.g. ACCA.

Local Growth Fund

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful bids from Local Enterprise Partnerships for the Local Growth Fund to date.

Michael Fallon: All 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) submitted their Strategic Economic Plans to Government by 31 March 2014. Given the highly competitive nature of the Local Growth Fund (LGF), it will be over-subscribed and therefore there will be successful and unsuccessful bids to the fund. The assessment process is under way, but it is too early to say how many bids will and will not be successful.

New Businesses: Coventry

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to support business start-ups in (a) Coventry North East constituency and (b) Coventry.

Matthew Hancock: We continue to work hard to provide the right support to make life easier for people looking to start a business and those looking to grow their business.
	The home for Government services and information online is
	www.gov.uk
	One of the tools available is the ‘Finance and Support Finder;' a searchable database of publicly-backed sources of finance and business support. The website
	www.greatbusiness.gov.uk
	also provides support and advice for entrepreneurs starting out as well as for anyone trying to grow a business.
	In addition to online support, the Business Support Helpline is available to provide a quick response on queries about starting a business, or a personalised and in-depth advice service for more complex needs. Start-Up Loans provide start-up funding and intensive support to entrepreneurs to enable them to start a business. The Start-Up Loans Schemehas so far helped 26 companies in Coventry North East with a value of £108,400, and 75 companies in Coventry with a value of £359,617.

New Businesses: Older People

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent steps he has taken to support elderly first-time entrepreneurs.

Matthew Hancock: People of all ages and experiences are setting up and growing businesses all the time. We continue to work hard to provide the right support to make life easier for them all.
	Gov.uk is the home for Government services and information online:
	www.gov.uk
	One of the tools available is the ‘Business Finance and Support Finder;' a source of Government-backed support and finance for business. The website:
	www.greatbusiness.gov.uk
	also provides support and advice for anyone trying to grow a business as well as for entrepreneurs starting out.
	In addition to online support, the Business Support Helpline is available to provide a quick response on queries about starting a business, or a personalised and in-depth advice service for more complex needs. For those looking for start-up finance and advice there are Start-Up Loans: Seven loans worth a total of £37,000 have been drawn down in Windsor since the scheme began in 2012.

New Businesses: Swindon

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many new businesses have been registered in Swindon since 2010.

Michael Fallon: Companies House confirms that since 2010, 5,308 companies have been registered in Swindon. This figure is based on company registration data from postcode areas, which can cross town boundaries, and should be considered an approximation.

Official Receiver

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many directors of each Official Receiver’s office were disqualified in the year ending 31 March 2014.

Jennifer Willott: Detailed in the following table is the office breakdown for the number of directors disqualified in the year ended 31 March 2014.
	
		
			  Total number of disqualifications 
			 OR office  
			 Anglia 28 
			 Central Midlands 25 
			 East Midlands and South Yorkshire 29 
			 Greater Manchester 9 
			 Humber and East Yorkshire 21 
			 Kent 9 
			 London—Essex 5 
			 London—Hertfordshire, Bucks 12 
		
	
	
		
			 Mid West and North Wales 19 
			 North 4 
			 North East 16 
			 North West 12 
			 South Central 8 
			 South Wales 23 
			 South West 9 
			 Surrey and Sussex 20 
			 West England 21 
			 Total 270 
			   
			 PIU  
			 North 109 
			 South 47 
			 Total 156

Official Receiver

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many statements of fact were submitted by each Official Receiver's office in the year ending 31 March 2014.

Jennifer Willott: Detailed in the following table is the office breakdown for the number of statements of fact (Criminal Referrals), in the year ended 31 March 2014.
	
		
			 Office/Region Bankruptcy Company Total 
			 OR Offices    
			 Anglia 17 1 18 
			 Central Midlands 27 10 37 
			 E Midlands and S Yorkshire 14 10 24 
			 Greater Manchester 18 13 31 
			 Humber and East Yorkshire 3 6 9 
			 Kent 9 5 14 
			 London-Essex 9 4 13 
			 London-Herts, Bucks 7 1 8 
			 Mid West and North Wales 19 4 23 
			 North 12 3 15 
			 North East 22 7 29 
			 North West 17 2 19 
			 South Central 16 1 17 
			 South Wales 22 9 31 
			 South West 8 2 10 
			 Surrey and Sussex 14 6 20 
			 West England 13 9 22 
			 Total 247 93 340 
			     
			 PIU    
			 North 3 2 5 
			 South 0 2 2 
			 Total 3 4 7

Official Receiver

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the (a) location, (b) number of staff, including remote workers, and (c) number of full-time equivalent staff was of each Official Receiver's office.

Jennifer Willott: Official Receiver Services operates a number of Commands, with a named Grade 7 Official Receiver responsible for the operation of each command. Each Command operates across between one and three locations.
	The following table shows a snapshot of staff in post (and the appropriate full-time equivalent (FTE) figure) in Official Receiver commands and their locations as at 22 April 2014. The total includes some staff who have agreed to exit as part of previous/on-going voluntary exit/redundancy schemes, whose exit dates lie beyond that date.
	Remote workers are staff who work at a location other than their own office for up to two days a week. Members of staff who work remotely remain based at their principal location and, as such, are recorded as part of the staffing complement of their principal location.
	
		
			 Location FTE Staff 
			 Anglia Command   
			 Norwich 19.55 21 
			 Ipswich 15.45 18 
			 Cambridge 21.40 23 
			    
			 Midlands Command   
			 Birmingham 70.59 74 
			    
			 East Midlands Command   
			 Nottingham 25.22 27 
			 Leicester 22.53 24 
			    
			 Greater Manchester Command   
			 Stoke 16.84 18 
			 Manchester 36.14 37 
			    
			 Public Interest Unit North   
			 PIU Manchester 31.46 33 
			    
			 Humber and East Yorkshire Command   
			 Hull 31.71 36 
			    
			 Kent Command   
			 Chatham 35.15 38 
			    
			 London and Essex Command   
			 Southend 24.01 26 
			 London B 37.34 39 
			    
			 London and Hertfordshire Command   
			 London A 32.47 34 
			 St Albans 17.78 20 
			    
			 Public Interest Unit: South   
			 PIU London 26.50 27 
			    
			 Northwest, Midwest and North Wales Command   
			 Birkenhead 36.02 39 
			 Blackpool 38.57 42 
			    
			 Northern Command   
			 Sheffield 18.57 22 
			 Leeds 43.41 47 
		
	
	
		
			 North-East Command   
			 Newcastle 40.33 44 
			    
			 South-Central Command   
			 Southampton 24.83 27 
			 Reading 18.03 20 
			    
			 South Wales Command   
			 Swansea 7.00 7 
			 Cardiff 31.11 35 
			    
			 South-West Command   
			 Exeter 9.41 10 
			 Plymouth 14.00 14 
			    
			 Surrey and Sussex Command   
			 Brighton 17.83 19 
			 Croydon 41.77 45 
			    
			 Western Command   
			 Gloucester 22.77 25 
			 Bristol 23.74 25 
			    
			 Total 851.53 916

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many staff in the Hull Official Receiver’s office have been offered voluntary redundancy terms.

Jennifer Willott: All 43 employees in Hull have been offered work in the Insolvency Service’s Leeds office as well as assistance with travel. Voluntary redundancy terms have also been offered to all 43 employees in case they do not wish to or are unable to make the move. Employees who choose not to relocate will be eligible for assistance from the Insolvency Service’s outplacement support programme, and will be given priority access to vacancies across the wider civil service.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will (a) publish and (b) provide to the recognised trade unions a detailed cost analysis for the closure of Hull Official Receiver's office.

Jennifer Willott: The Insolvency Service has provided a cost analysis to the trade unions on a confidential basis. In view of its commercial nature, I do not consider it appropriate to publish this information.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what facilities his Department has identified to allow (a) company directors, (b) bankrupts and (c) others to be interviewed locally after the closure of the Hull Official Receiver's office.

Jennifer Willott: The Insolvency Service announced its decision to close its Hull office on 27 March 2014 and indicated that the intention was to preserve the services to customers by opening an interview facility in the Hull area. Also on 27 March 2014 I wrote to local Members of Parliament to share their views on local issues that might influence the location of a local interview facility. These views, along with analysis of customer information, will be used to select the precise location. The facility will be operational by the time of the closure, in November 2014.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the potential cost of buying out the lease for the Hull Official Receiver's office.

Jennifer Willott: No assessment of the costs of buying out the lease has been made. The financial information considered when the decision to close the office was made assumed that the Insolvency Service would be responsible for lease payments until the lease end in September 2016.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on which date authority was given for the closure of the Hull Official Receiver's office; and who gave such authority.

Jennifer Willott: The decision to close the Insolvency Service office in Hull was made by the Insolvency Service Board on 18 March 2014.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what negotiations took place with trade unions prior to the decision to close the Hull Official Receiver's office; and on what dates those negotiations took place.

Jennifer Willott: Extensive discussions have taken place between the Insolvency Service and trade union officials in connection with the estates review of our 36 offices throughout the last two years, in the context of continued falling case numbers. As a result of this ongoing consultation, changes have been made to our excess fares, home moves and flexible working policies, to support those affected by office closures. The trade unions were made aware on 25 February 2014 that the future of the Hull office was being considered, and were invited to provide any views they wished. Following the announcement of the office closure on 27 March 2014 a 90-day formal consultation period with employees and their trade unions representatives commenced. The purpose of the consultation is to ensure that the Insolvency Service explores what the decision means for each of its employees, as well as discussing and agreeing the support that it can provide.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he has taken to ensure that the Official Receiver's statutory duties are completed in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire once the Hull Official Receiver's office is closed.

Jennifer Willott: The official receiver's office will be based in Leeds and in common with other official receivers, will be responsible for insolvencies over a geographical area, which will include the East Riding of Yorkshire and Hull. An interview facility will be opened in the Hull area so that face-to-face interviews can be undertaken locally as needed and there is no reduction in the service provided to customers.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what review was undertaken of the Hull Official Receiver's office before his Department's decision to close that office; what the timescale for that review was; and what evidence was collected in that review.

Jennifer Willott: The decision on Hull was one of a number of decisions made by the Insolvency Service Board in the context of a review of its estate. That review covered all 36 buildings occupied by the Insolvency Service and had the objectives of ensuring that its estate met its needs to provide efficiency and excellent customer service and to reduce costs against a context of significant falls in case numbers. The review of the estates strategy started in early 2013 and Hull was in the final phase of buildings being reviewed in February 2014. The Board considered the options of remaining in the same accommodation in Hull, moving to alternative Government property in Hull and moving the Hull operation to Leeds. The evidence collected comprised, for each option, impact on customers, impact on employees, an assessment of strategic benefits, financial impact and how any move could be delivered.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what alternative office accommodation was sought in the Hull area to reduce the operating costs of the Hull Official Receiver's office.

Jennifer Willott: Alternative Government accommodation was sought through the Government Property Unit and its online database and various possibilities considered. The costs of such alternative accommodation in Hull were included in reaching the final decision to close the Hull office.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much work from outside the Hull region was undertaken by staff in the Hull Official Receiver's office in the last 12 months.

Jennifer Willott: The Official Receiver's office in Hull imported 866 cases from outside the Hull region in the last 12 months.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what bodies he consulted before the decision was made to close the Hull Official Receiver's office.

Jennifer Willott: Extensive discussions have taken place between the Insolvency Service and trade union officials in connection with the estates review, in the context of the estates strategy. As customer service will be maintained in the Hull area, no other bodies were contacted prior to the decision.

Official Receiver: Kingston Upon Hull

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what research he commissioned on the effects of the closure of the Hull Official Receiver's office before the decision to close that office; and if he will make a statement.

Jennifer Willott: Before taking the decision to close the Hull office, the Insolvency Service reviewed: the impact on customers, employees, and the agency's finances; the strategic viability of the move; and how it could be delivered.

Overseas Students

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he made of the total financial contribution made by non-EU students to the UK's higher education sector.

David Willetts: The Government’s International Education Strategy, published in July 2013, included an analysis of the value of international students to the UK. Expenditure on tuition fees and living expenses were shown to be the two largest components of UK higher education (HE) exports. The international education strategy can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/international-education-strategy-global-growth-and-prosperity
	More recent data for the 2012/13 academic year are now available. The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publishes data on the sources of income for all higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK on an annual basis. In 2012/13 tuition fee income from non-EU students at UK HEIs was £3.5 billion.
	In addition, BIS has estimated that living expenses of non-EU students was £4.3 billion in 2012/13. Some of this expenditure is likely to flow to HEIs (e.g. via accommodation services).
	International students also bring indirect economic benefits to the HE sector, including strengthening the quality, diversity and reputation of the sector and improving overseas business, research, social and cultural links.

Overseas Students

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment his Department has made of the potential financial effect on UK higher education institutions of the reduction in non-EU students in 2012-13.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publishes data on the sources of income for all higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK on an annual basis. These data show that, despite a slight fall in student numbers, tuition fee income from non-EU students in 2012-13 was £3.5 billion, an increase of 9.1% on 2011-12.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) produces an annual report on the financial health of the publicly funded higher education sector in England. Their most recent report, published in March 2014, also states that income from non-EU students rose in 2012-13 and shows that HEIs are expecting tuition fee income from non-EU students to rise by 9.7% in real terms in 2013-14.
	The most recent HEFCE report can be found at:
	http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2014/201402/HEFCE2014_02.pdf

Overseas Students

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many foreign students from which countries applied to study in the UK in (a) 2011-12, (b) 2012-13 and (c) 2013-14.

David Willetts: A complete count of applicants from overseas countries is not available centrally. The number of applicants from each overseas country who apply to full-time undergraduate courses via UCAS is available from the UCAS website at
	http://www.ucas.com/data-analysis/data-resources
	However, not all overseas applicants apply via the UCAS application scheme. In addition, the UCAS figures do not cover applicants to postgraduate courses.

Package Holidays: EU Action

John Whittingdale: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what representations he has received about the implications of the proposed EU Package Travel Directive on insolvency protection for consumers; and if he will make a statement.

Jennifer Willott: BIS officials are in regular contact with a variety of organisations that have a particular interest in the implications of the proposed Directive, including the elements covering insolvency protection for consumers. Those organisations are among the 42 that responded to this Department’s Call for Evidence on the Proposal for a New Directive on Package Travel and Assisted Travel Arrangements. Responses commenting on the insolvency protection proposals were received from a wide range of organisations, representing the interests of the travel trade, consumers, tourism, and legal firms.

Policy

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

Jennifer Willott: The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury website. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances.

Post Office

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on increasing the range of services provided by the Post Office network.

Jennifer Willott: Post Office Ltd, with its network of over 11,500 branches, is well placed to become a provider of front-office services for the Government, helping citizens interact with the Government either face-to-face or online.
	While public services must be competitively tendered, Post Office Ltd has shown that it can very effectively bid for and win new work. It has won every Government contract it has bid for over the past three years in highly competitive tendering processes.
	In particular, in 2012 it successfully bid for the competitively tendered DVLA framework contract for Front Office Counter Services (FOCS). This contract runs to 2020 and is available to other Government Departments. For example, HM Passport Office recently moved its services with Post Office Ltd onto FOCS and this Department and the Cabinet Office are in close contact about a range of other opportunities.
	Furthermore, Post Office Ltd was recently one of the successful bidders for the Cabinet Office’s online identity assurance contract, ensuring that Post Office Ltd can play a role in the delivery of modern, online Government services.
	While I continue to highlight to my colleagues the opportunities available to the Government from using the Post Office network and contracts such as these, individual contracts are a matter for the services in question and their respective public bodies and Departments. I have not had recent discussions specifically with the Welsh Government.

Post Office

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on increasing the range of services provided by the Post Office network.

Jennifer Willott: Post Office Ltd, with its network of over 11,500 branches, is well placed to become a provider of front-office services for the Government, helping citizens interact with the Government either face-to-face or online.
	While public services must be competitively tendered, Post Office Ltd has shown that it can very effectively bid for and win new work. It has won every Government contract it has bid for over the past three years in highly competitive tendering processes.
	In particular, in 2012 it successfully bid for the competitively tendered DVLA framework contract for Front Office Counter Services (FOCS). This contract runs to 2020 and is available to other Government Departments. For example HM Passport Office recently moved its services with Post Office Ltd onto FOCS and this Department and the Cabinet Office are in close contact about a range of other opportunities.
	Furthermore, Post Office Ltd was recently one of the successful bidders for the Cabinet Office’s online identity assurance contract, ensuring that Post Office Ltd can play a role in the delivery of modern, online Government services.
	While I continue to highlight to my colleagues the opportunities available to the Government from using the Post Office network and contracts such as these, individual contracts are a matter for the services in question and their respective public bodies and Departments. I have not had recent discussions specifically with the Northern Ireland Executive.

Post Offices: Rural Areas

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure the retention of (a) rural post offices and (b) jobs in rural post offices.

Jennifer Willott: Since 2010 the Government have committed nearly £2 billion to maintain, modernise and protect a Post Office network of at least 11,500 branches that meets strict access criteria that ensure fair and reasonable access to Post Office services, including in rural communities. For example, the access criteria require 99% of the population nationally to live within three miles of a post office outlet. The Post Office is the only retailer in the UK that meets these criteria. Furthermore, the Government have been consistently clear that there will be no programme of branch closures, and under this Government the Post Office network is at its most stable for a generation.
	The overwhelming majority of rural branches are owned and operated by private businesspeople, known as sub-postmasters, who provide access to Post Office services under contractual arrangements. Sub-postmasters are responsible for employing the staff required to deliver Post Office services.

Recycling

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will take steps to address the barriers to remanufacturing identified in the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group's recent report on remanufacturing. [R]

Michael Fallon: The Government welcome the broad thrust of the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group’s recent report ‘Remanufacturing: Towards a resource efficient economy’. We recognises the important role that remanufacturing has in supporting the long-term sustainability of the UK economy, encouraging resource resilience while boosting business opportunities and skilled employment.
	BIS is working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and across Whitehall on a number of areas touched on by the report; such as the regulatory regime that governs waste, where work is already in progress to ensure that it encourages greater re-use of materials in existing and developing manufacturing processes.
	We will use the report to inform a number of areas of policy that impact on sustainability and remanufacturing.

Research Councils

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the cost was of the recent triennial review of the Research Councils.

David Willetts: The cost of the review primarily relates to the salary costs of review team members, who undertook the review as a corporate objective alongside their existing responsibilities. On average, the review team spent around 10% of their weekly core work hours on the review across its duration. There were additional costs associated with the extensive stakeholder engagement and in-year awards to review team members to recognise their personal contribution in completing the review. These awards are consistent with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ (BIS) in-year awards policy of recognising and rewarding contributions to business performance and demonstrating the BIS values.
	The estimated maximum total cost to BIS of the review team is £81,350, which represents 0.002% of total Research Council funding.

Royal Mail

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 9 April 2014, Official Report, column 291W, on Royal Mail, for what reasons the underwriters' discretionary fee has not been paid.

Michael Fallon: No decision has been made on the payment of this discretionary payment.

Royal Mail

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what meetings or telephone calls have taken place between Ministers and officials in his Department with (a) the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, (b) BlackRock, (c) Capital Research, (d) Fidelity Worldwide, (e) GIC, (f) Henderson, (g) JP Morgan, (h) Kuwait Investment Office, (i) Lansdowne Partners, (j) Lazard Asset Management, (k) Och Ziff, Schroders, (l) Soros, (m) Standard Life, (n) Third Point and (o) Threadneedle in relation to the flotation of the Royal Mail since May 2010; and what was discussed in such meetings.

Michael Fallon: Neither Ministers in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills nor officials have discussed the Royal Mail flotation with any of these investors.

Royal Mail

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which priority investors in Royal Mail have subsequently sold all or part of their holdings of shares since the date of flotation; and what estimate he has made of the level of profits made in each case.

Michael Fallon: Maintained by Royal Mail and is subject to uncertainties (e.g. funds can hold their shares through a range of nominees/custodians).
	Based on the Bloomberg register dated 23 April, we estimate that more than half of the pilot fishing investors allocated shares remain invested and that they hold shares equal to more than 50% of their combined allocations.
	Given that the timings of sales and purchases are not available on a fund-by-fund basis, the Department does not know, and has not made any estimate, of any profits made by these investors (other than Lazard Asset Management, whose representative told the Public Accounts Committee on 30 April the level of profit it made on the sale of Royal Mail shares for its clients).

Students: Admissions

Nick Raynsford: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when he plans to announce the final allocation of student number controls to alternative providers.

David Willetts: Provisional student numbers for 2014/15 were issued on 20 February 2014. Since then we have considered applications for a higher number and adjusted numbers issued where appropriate on 2 May 2014. However, we cannot confirm final allocations until providers have been re-designated for student support purposes for the 2014/15 academic year.

Students: Loans

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 204 of HM Treasury's Central Government and Supply Estimates 2013-14, February 2014, HC 1006, if he will provide a breakdown of the £15.877 million supplementary estimate for the increase in costs of student loan debt sale.

David Willetts: The supplementary estimate adjustment for the student loan debt sale relates to the Government subsidising the sale of student loans in 1998 and 1999. The adjustment reflects changes to the value of the Government liability following annual debt sale subsidy payments, including adjustments for cancelled loans.
	The subsidy will continue until all the loans are extinguished, which is expected to be no earlier than 2028, which is the 30-year duration of the first debt sale agreement.
	Further details of the liability are available in the BIS Annual Report and Accounts.

Students: Loans

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to page 201 of HM Treasury’s central government supply estimates 2013-14, supplementary estimates and new estimates, February 2014, HC 1006, what factors led to the need for the revised forecast that gave rise to the reserve claim of £5.455 billion for non-cash relating to revised forecasts for student loans; for what reasons this was unforeseen in his Department’s main estimate for 2013-14; and what steps he plans to take to avoid the need for such a supplementary estimate in the future.

David Willetts: The supplementary estimates claim covered additional impairment of up to £3.2 billion resulting from improvements made to the student loans repayment model. Significant changes were made to the model after main estimates 2013-14, which enabled the Department to make better use of historical earnings data, which in turn produced greater accuracy in modelling borrowers’ earnings paths. These changes, in addition to greater use of Student Loans Company data to support the model, have enabled us to address the historical over-forecasting of repayments.
	The claim also included a contingency of £1.4 billion for any change to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economic forecasts between December 2013 and March 2014. If unusually low interest rates were forecast to continue for longer than expected, this would result in a cost to the Government as future cash flows would be lower. Any changes to forecasts of earnings growth and RPI would also mean that lower loan repayments would be likely in future years The Department will continue to take account the possibility that the OBR will change its forecasts in March of future years.
	Non-cash pressures of £0.4 billion from higher than forecast growth in the take-up of loans and pre-agreed claims of £0.7 billion for higher impairment charges identified at SR13 were also included.
	The Department will continue to update its modelling of student loan repayments in the light of the latest data and forecasts, and methodological innovation.

Temporary Employment

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will undertake an assessment of the effects that pay between assignment contracts have on agency workers' pay.

Jennifer Willott: The exact number of agency workers in the UK who are employed on pay between assignment contracts is not known. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills continues to monitor available evidence and is talking to relevant stakeholders to gather further information about the effects of pay between assignments contracts.

Temporary Employment

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will support the introduction of legislation at EU level to ensure that pay between assignment contracts does not result in agency workers being paid a lower wage than other employees.

Jennifer Willott: There are no proposals for change to the relevant legislation on agency workers at EU level at this stage.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Jennifer Willott: I have no plans to end the Department's check-off arrangements.

University Technical Colleges

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what amount the Government spent on full-time students in technical colleges in 2013-14;
	(2)  what amount his Department spent on all apprenticeships in 2013-14.

Matthew Hancock: The funding available for adult further education and skills in 2013-14 financial year was £4.1 billion, of which £3.6 billion was routed through the Skills Funding Agency to support the capacity for 3 million learners. More detailed data on spend in that financial year are not yet available.
	The funding available for apprenticeships in 2013-14 financial year was £1,566 million, of which £802 million was provided by the Department for Education for those aged 16 to 18 and £764 million was provided by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills for those aged 19 and over. More detailed data on spend in that financial year are not yet available.

TREASURY

Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to relocate (a) staff and (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: HM Treasury staff are currently based in London and Norwich. HM Treasury policy is to ensure that its current space is used to maximum efficiency in line with the Civil Service Reform agenda before we would consider a move of staff or offices to Brighton, but we are grateful for his suggestion.

Business

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal measures he has taken to encourage small and medium-sized businesses in the UK since May 2010.

Nicky Morgan: The Government are committed to making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business and have introduced a number of fiscal measures since 2010 to encourage small and medium-sized businesses.
	The Government have doubled the small business rate relief for every year of this Parliament, saving businesses occupying small premises over £1.5 billion to date. The Government announced additional business rate measures at the Autumn Statement 2013, capping business rates increases at 2% in 2014-15, and introducing a special discount of £1,000 for retail premises with rateable values below £50,000 in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
	From April 2014, the £2,000 employment allowance is supporting small businesses aspiring to hire their first employee or expand their workforce. The Government have also increased the payable research and development tax credit for loss-making small and medium-sized businesses from 11% to 14.5% from April 2014, providing particular support for early-stage companies and start-ups.
	Fuel costs are significant for many small businesses so the Government have implemented the longest duty freeze for over 20 years. In total, by 2015-16 a small business with a van will have saved £1,300 and a haulier £21,000.

Child Benefit

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many 19-year-olds had applications for child benefit rejected because of a break in their education in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12 and (d) 2012-13.

Nicky Morgan: The information is not available.

Child Tax Credit

Katy Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many 19-year-olds have been refused child tax credits because of a break in their education in each year since 2009-10.

Nicky Morgan: The information is not available.

Children: Day Care

Alok Sharma: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of families eligible for tax-free childcare in Reading West constituency.

Nicky Morgan: The information requested is not available.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of parents of children whose nursery costs are (a) £2,000, (b) £1,800, (c) £1,600, (d) £1,400, (e) £1,200, (f) £1,000, (g) £800, (h) £600, (i) £400 and (j) £200 per year who will benefit from tax-free childcare.

Nicky Morgan: The information requested is not available.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of families who will benefit from (a) £2,000, (b) £1,800, (c) £1,600, (d) £1,400, (e) £1,200, (f) £1,000, (g) £800, (h) £600, (i) £400 and (j) £200 per year of tax-free childcare support.

Nicky Morgan: Information on the number of families eligible for tax-free childcare and the number of families who will benefit from the increase of the £6,000 cap on costs per child to £10,000 can be found in Annex B of Delivering Tax-Free Childcare: the Government’s response to the consultation on design and operation:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293084/PU1607_Tax_free_Childcare_response.pdf
	Further breakdowns of the number of families benefitting from the levels of support requested are not available.

Children: Day Care

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the average benefit which will be received by each family eligible to receive tax-free childcare.

Nicky Morgan: Information on the estimated number of families eligible for the tax-free childcare scheme and the exchequer impact of tax-free childcare can be found in the Budget 2014 policy costings document:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/293740/PU1638_policy_costings_budget_2014.pdf

Children: Day Care

Mary Macleod: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many families in (a) London, (b) Hounslow borough and (c) Brentford and Isleworth constituency will benefit from the Government's tax-free childcare policy.

Nicky Morgan: The information requested is not available.

Corporation Tax: Northern Ireland

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last discussed the possible devolution of corporation tax with the Northern Ireland Executive.

David Gauke: The Government and the Northern Ireland Executive have taken forward a constructive and positive programme of work examining the potential for devolving corporation tax powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
	As agreed in “Building a prosperous and united community” the Government are taking forward further work on corporation tax devolution and will make a final decision on the devolution of these powers no later than the autumn statement 2014.

Credit Unions

Mike Kane: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what support the Government are giving to credit unions to help extend access to fair credit.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government are supportive of credit unions and have taken a number of steps to assist them, most recently including:
	The Department for Work and Pensions investment of up to £38 million in an expansion project for credit unions. The project aims to help credit unions expand and grow, enabling them to provide financial services to more people.
	From 1 April this year the Government increased the cap on the maximum interest rate a credit union can charge for loans from 2% to 3% per month. This will allow credit unions to make more loans to their members without making a loss. Even if they choose to charge the higher rate of interest, the cost of borrowing from a credit union will still be significantly cheaper than many high-cost lenders.
	The Government intend that these measures will help the credit union sector go from strength to strength, so it can be a viable option for financial services provision for an even wider range of consumers.

Crown Estate Commissioners

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what occasions he has met representatives of the Crown Estate since May 2010.

Nicky Morgan: Treasury Ministers meet the Crown Estate Board and staff several times a year.

Debt Collection

Ian Lavery: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average commission paid across Government is of recovery of £1 of debt by private debt collection agencies.

Francis Maude: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	After the 2010 General Election, the Government established the first ever cross-Whitehall taskforce to tackle fraud, error and debt. Our ambition is that by the time of the 2015 election, we will save taxpayers £20 billion a year through cutting losses to fraud, error and debt, as well as savings driven by the Efficiency and Reform Group.
	The average commission paid by the largest debt holding Departments (HMRC and DWP) for the recovery of £1 of debt by private debt collection agencies is 7p.

Energy: Industry

Fiona O'Donnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he will next meet representatives of energy-intensive industries to discuss the EU Commission's draft Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines.

Nicky Morgan: Treasury Ministers meet a range of stakeholders on an ongoing basis, including energy intensive industries. For instance, the Chancellor recently visited Tata Steel’s Port Talbot plant. The Chancellor has written to representatives of energy-intensive industries about the Environmental and Energy State Aid Guidelines and instructed officials to meet them to discuss this issue.

Equitable Life Assurance Society: Compensation

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Equitable Life policyholders are expected to benefit from the compensation scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: Around one million policyholders are eligible for a payment from the Equitable Life Payment scheme.

Ex-gratia Payments

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he has agreed to the Top Level Budget holder in the Ministry of Defence making ex-gratia payments to members of the armed forces wrongly disciplined under AGAI 67 following receipt of a police caution; what estimate he has made of the level of such payments; when such payments are to start; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: The Treasury delegates ex-gratia payments that are not novel or contentious to the Ministry of Defence, below an agreed threshold. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) may then delegate further to Top Level Budget holders with the agreement the Treasury.
	The MOD has not made any ex-gratia payments in response to claims from armed forces personnel that they had been wrongly disciplined under AGAI 67 on receipt of a police caution.

Financial Institutions

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which meetings or telephone calls have taken place between Ministers and officials in his Department and (a) the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, (b) BlackRock, (c) Capital Research, (d) Fidelity Worldwide, (e) GIC, (f) Henderson, (g) JP Morgan, (h) Kuwait Investment Office, (i) Lansdowne Partners, (j) Lazard Asset Management, (k) Och Ziff, Schroders, (l) Soros, (m) Standard Life, (n) Third Point and (o) Threadneedle since 2010 and what was discussed in any such discussions.

Andrea Leadsom: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
	Details of officials' meetings with external organisations are not held centrally and it would entail disproportionate cost to collate this information.

Fuels: Tax Evasion

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) laundering plants and (b) millions of litres of fuel were seized in the UK by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last 10 years.

Nicky Morgan: Figures are available only for the year 2010-11 and onwards. The number of laundering plants and millions of litres of fuel seized in those years are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Laundering plants Northern Ireland Great Britain Fuel (million litres) 
			 2010-11 23 20 3 2.74 
			 2011-12 29 29 — 2.44 
			 2012-13 to December 2013 26 22 4 2.63 
		
	
	HMRC fights fraud on a wide range of fronts, from special units performing thousands of roadside checks to raiding laundering plants. HMRC has also recently concluded the evaluation of a possible new marker for rebated fuel, which will make it harder to launder marked fuel and sell it at a profit.
	HMRC uses several avenues to tackle fraud: criminal prosecution, civil action (such as seizing fuel or pumps), civil penalties and strong regulatory controls.

Government Departments: Assets

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make an estimate of the value of backlog maintenance of central Government-owned assets.

Danny Alexander: These data are not available as backlog maintenance is for individual Departments to manage and consequently the Treasury does not ask for the information. The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) does include current valuations for assets across Government, which takes into account the condition of the assets.

Imports

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many months of imports the UK's reserves can cover; and if he will make a statement.

Nicky Morgan: The UK has not operated an exchange rate targeting monetary policy regime since 1992. Rather, foreign exchange reserves are currently held on a precautionary basis, to be used in the event of unexpected shocks.
	Latest data show that the value of the reserves is $110.9 billion, up from $71.2 billion in June 2010. UK imports averaged £44.4 billion per month over 2013.

Income Tax

Robert Halfon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential cost to the public purse of raising the income tax personal allowance for 2015-16 from £10,500 to £12,300, with the same maximum cash benefit going to basic and higher rate taxpayers but no benefit going to additional rate taxpayers.

David Gauke: Raising the income tax personal allowance to £12,300 in 2015-16 is estimated to cost in the region of £9.5 billion.
	A reduction to the basic rate limit has been assumed so that the higher rate threshold is unchanged. As a result of this, basic rate and most higher rate taxpayers would benefit equally from the personal allowance increase.
	This estimate is based on the 2011-12 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

Infrastructure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to consolidate departmental funding streams into a single national infrastructure fund; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: The Government believe that there is a powerful case for giving local business and political leaders the levers they need to create jobs and drive growth. In ‘Investing in Britain’s Future’, the Government accepted Lord Heseltine’s recommendations to devolve economic power to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) through the creation of the Local Growth Fund (LGF) with over £2 billion of budgets from skills, housing and transport for 2015-16. An area’s allocation from the LGF will be available to be spent on the priorities LEPs and their partners have determined in their strategic economic plans.
	The Government allocated capital funds between programmes at spending review 2010 and spending round 2013 on the basis of a zero-based review of the economic returns of every central Government capital programme, with investment being targeted increasingly at economic infrastructure. Once allocated between programmes, funds were moved into the appropriate departmental budgets to allow Departments to deliver those programmes.

Infrastructure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value is of guarantees made under the UK Guarantees scheme to date.

Danny Alexander: Three guarantees and one stand-by Facility have been signed under the UK Guarantees scheme, with a total value of £1,090,800,000.
	Any guarantees signed are reported to Parliament as required by the legislation—Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Act 2012—underpinning the scheme and can also be found on the gov.uk website.

Infrastructure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the value of guarantee was of his Department's largest 200 infrastructure projects in (a) 2010-11 and (b) 2013-14.

Danny Alexander: The UK Guarantees scheme did not exist in 2010-11. Following its introduction in 2012, Drax Power, the Northern Line Extension and Mersey Gateway Bridge are the projects in the National Infrastructure Plan that have benefited from the scheme. The total value of those three guarantees is £1,082,000,000.
	The infrastructure pipeline published alongside the National Infrastructure Plan 2013 provides a forward- looking, bottom-up assessment of overall planned and potential infrastructure investment in the UK to 2020 and beyond, and includes details of the projected value of individual investments. It includes large public and private infrastructure projects and capital programmes (generally worth £50 million or over) and can be found here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-plan-2013
	The pipeline has been published annually since it was first published in 2011.

Infrastructure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of building information modelling in reducing the total cost of ownership for complex infrastructure assets; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: The 2011 Government construction strategy set a target that all publicly procured construction will require fully collaborative 3D Building Information Modelling (BIM) (with all project and asset information, documentation and data being electronic) as a minimum by 2016.
	Infrastructure UK is working closely with the Government and industry groups implementing BIM on new projects. Early adopter projects include the Ministry of Justice’s Cookham Wood Young Offenders Institute, which has demonstrated an overall saving of around 20% with BIM as part of a suite of efficiency measures deployed on the design and construction of the project.
	Major projects and clients are now implementing BIM on new infrastructure projects. It is still too early to draw conclusive evidence of whole-life benefits. However, High Speed 2 has made a specific commitment to deploy BIM and the Highways Agency is piloting BIM on the new A556 trunk road project, from which evidence of benefits will be collated.

Infrastructure

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the next 40 infrastructure projects are that the Government plan to undertake; and in what order the Government plan to undertake those projects.

Danny Alexander: The Government published our top 40 priority infrastructure investments in our National Infrastructure Plan (December 2013). This included projected construction start and finish dates. The relevant information is contained in Annex A of the Plan, accessible here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-infrastructure-plan-2013

Insolvency: Civil Proceedings

John Glen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of how much tax will be collected annually from insolvency litigation following reforms to insolvency litigation through the 2012 Legal, Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.

David Gauke: No assessment has been made of how much tax will be collected annually from insolvency litigation following reforms to insolvency litigation through the 2012 Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.

Insolvency: Civil Proceedings

John Glen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax has been collected from insolvency litigation (a) through the Specialist Investigation Unit and (b) in all other insolvency litigation cases handled by HM Revenue and Customs in each year since 2010.

David Gauke: HMRC does not maintain centrally held records of the amount it collects through insolvency litigation.

International Monetary Fund: Ukraine

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's latest assessment is of the likely timeframe within which International Monetary Fund funds will be released for the Ukraine.

Andrea Leadsom: The IMF Board is expected to consider Ukraine’s application for a financial assistance programme in April. The agreement of a programme and subsequent disbursement of funds is also dependent on the Ukrainian authorities adopting a set of reforms as set out by the IMF.
	The latest IMF statement, following staff-level agreement with the Ukrainian authorities on a potential programme, can be found at:
	http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2014/pr14131.htm

Manufacturing Industries

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal steps he has taken to encourage manufacturing in the UK since May 2010.

Nicky Morgan: With our long-term economic plan, this Government are committed to strong and sustainable growth that is balanced across the economy. Manufacturing is a vital part of this, and the Government have put in place a wide range of measures to improve the wider business environment and support this sector, including both tax reforms and direct support.
	This Government have reduced the main rate of corporation tax to improve the business environment and attract investment: it is currently 21%, down from 28% in 2010, and will fall further to 20% in April 2015. Beyond this, support to manufacturing includes the Government committing £3.2 billion to the regional growth fund, over £1.5 billion of support to specific sectors through the industrial strategy, £345 million to the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative, and over £200 million to a catapult centre on high-value manufacturing. In the recent Budget, the Government announced a package of measures to reduce energy bills for manufacturers and improve their competitiveness.
	There is more to do, but the latest GDP figures and May’s manufacturing PMI are encouraging.

Minimum Wage

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) inspections, (b) findings of non-compliance, (c) prosecutions and (d) convictions have been handled by HM Revenue and Customs for non-payment of the minimum wage in each region in each year since 2008.

David Gauke: The Government take the enforcement of the national minimum wage (NMW) very seriously and HMRC reviews every complaint that is referred to it, investigating the complaint and, in addition, carrying out targeted enforcement where we identify a high risk of non-payment of NMW.
	The information for the time period requested is detailed in the following table. HMRC does not keep statistics at regional level for the purposes of completed inspections and non-compliance. However, the location of the employers prosecuted is included.
	
		
			 Financial year Completed inspections Non-compliance Prosecutions Employer location 
			 2009-10 3643 1256 0 — 
			 2010-11 2904 1140 1 Liverpool 
			 2011-12 2534 968 0 — 
			 2012-13 1693 736 1 London 
			 2013-14 1455 680 0 — 
		
	
	The majority of employers identified as paying below the NMW will pay arrears on receipt of a formal notice of underpayment. Where they don’t, HMRC will pursue recovery through the civil courts. For deliberate non-compliance or obstructive behaviour, HMRC operates a policy of selective and exemplary criminal investigation action to bolster our overall enforcement strategy. Criminal investigations rarely result in arrears being paid to workers and are reserved only for the most serious cases. All of the prosecutions noted in the table above were successful.

Minimum Wage: Scotland

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in HM Revenue and Customs' national minimum wage team were monitoring Scotland in each year from 2010 to 2014.

David Gauke: The Government takes the enforcement of the national minimum wage (NMW) very seriously. HMRC reviews every complaint that is referred to it by the Pay and Work Rights Helpline. In addition, by collating and analysing data received from various sources, HMRC ensures targeted enforcement through robust risk assessment processes to identify employers across the United Kingdom who are more likely to be not paying NMW.
	HMRC deploys resources to risk, so work relating to a specific geographical area is not always undertaken by the NMW team based in that area. In addition, the NMW Dynamic Response Team (DRT) provides a multi-agency response to emerging risks, high-profile casework and compliance initiatives across the UK.
	Staff across HMRC contribute to enforcing the NMW, including people who work in legal advice, debt management, technical support and criminal investigation, but HMRC does not record the specific numbers of those staff involved, beyond those identified above.

Money Lenders

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of unscrupulous money lending in (a) the UK, (b) East Midlands, (c) Nottinghamshire and (d) Ashfield in each of the last five years.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government have not made an estimate about levels of unscrupulous money lending. The National Audit Office estimated that unaddressed detriment in the UK consumer credit market cost consumers £450 million in 2011-12.
	The Government have fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market. The new, more robust Financial Conduct Authority regime will help to deliver the Government’s vision for a well functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which is able to meet consumers’ needs.

Mortgages: Interest Rates

David Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax relief was provided for mortgage interest payments by buy-to-let residential property investors at the (a) basic income tax marginal rate, (b) higher income tax marginal rate and (c) additional income tax marginal rate in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.

David Gauke: The information is not available. HMRC's administrative systems do not separately identify mortgage interest payments against residential property from other financial costs incurred across all types of property businesses (both residential and non-residential). Moreover, property income is grouped with other income in the calculation of tax liabilities, and consequently the amounts of specific deductions effective against each rate of tax is not precisely defined.

Mortgages: Interest Rates

David Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of each type of tax relief was provided to buy-to-let residential property investors at the (a) basic income tax marginal rate, (b) higher income tax marginal rate and (c) additional income tax marginal rate in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.

David Gauke: The information is not available. HMRC's administrative systems do not distinguish between residential and non-residential property businesses nor the nature of rental property businesses such as buy-to-let investors. Moreover property income is grouped with other income in the calculation of tax liabilities, and consequently the amounts of specific deductions effective against each rate of tax is not precisely defined.

Mortgages: Interest Rates

David Hanson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much tax relief was provided to buy-to-let residential property investors at the (a) basic income tax marginal rate, (b) higher income tax marginal rate and (c) additional income tax marginal rate in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13.

David Gauke: The information is not available. HMRC's administrative systems do not distinguish between residential and non-residential property businesses nor the nature of rental property businesses such as buy-to-let investors. Moreover property income is grouped with other income in the calculation of tax liabilities, and consequently the amounts of specific deductions effective against each rate of tax is not precisely defined.

National Insurance Contributions

Robert Halfon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the potential cost to the public purse of raising the national insurance personal allowance for 2015-16 to (a) £10,000 and (b) £12,300.

David Gauke: Raising the national insurance contributions thresholds for individual earners (The Primary Threshold and Lower Profits Limit) in 2015-16 to £10,000 is estimated to cost in the region of £5 billion. Raising them to £12,300 is estimated to cost around £10.5 billion.
	These estimates are based on the 2011-12 Survey of Personal Incomes, projected to 2015-16 using economic assumptions consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2014 economic and fiscal outlook.

Office of Tax Simplification

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent progress has been made on implementing the recommendations of the Office of Tax Simplification.

David Gauke: At Budget 2014 the Government announced that we will implement Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) recommendations to simplify the taxation of employee benefits and expenses, employee share schemes, and partnerships. We will also simplify national insurance contributions (NICs) for the self-employed by collecting class 2 NICs through self-assessment from April 2016, as recommended by the OTS.

Revenue and Customs

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the PCS Union on the future of HM Revenue and Customs Debt Management and Banking operations.

David Gauke: Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

Revenue and Customs

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to privatise HM Revenue and Customs Debt Management and Banking operations; and if he will make a statement.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has no plans to privatise its Debt Management and Banking (DMB) operations.
	HMRC has been using debt collection services provided by private sector suppliers for several years. This has given HMRC additional capacity to complement its in house operations and increase the flexibility of its business operations, with debt collection agencies (DCAs) working alongside in-house debt collection activity.
	HMRC plans to continue to use private sector services—the overall aim being to strengthen further HMRC’s debt collection service, making optimal use of both internal and external collection specialists.
	In the future, HMRC will purchase those externally provided services through the Debt Market Integrator (DMI), a Cabinet Office-led initiative to create a “one stop shop” for all Government Departments to access a range of private sector debt collection services.

Taxation

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people did not meet the 31 January 2014 deadline for making their tax return.

David Gauke: Of the 10.7 million 2012-13 Self Assessment tax returns due by 31 January 2014, around 708,800 (6.6%) were not filed by the filing deadline.

Taxation: Personal Records

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a risk assessment or cost-benefit analysis has been carried out on the proposal to sell UK tax records.

David Gauke: There are no plans to sell UK tax records.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Andrea Leadsom: In HM Treasury these arrangements are kept under review.

VAT: Electronic Publishing

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Treasury received in VAT charged on e-books in (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-14.

David Gauke: No reliable estimate has been possible for the value of VAT levied on the sale of e-books purchased in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Lucy Powell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to questions 192679, 192680 and 192681 on children: daycare, tabled on 18 March 2014 for answer on 24 March 2014.

Nicky Morgan: I have done so.

HEALTH

Abortion

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many private abortion clinics are situated on the premises of NHS hospitals in England; and how many such clinics are run by (a) BPAS and (b) Marie Stopes International.

Jane Ellison: There are 17 independent abortion clinics situated on national health service premises in England. Of these, 11 are run by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service and three by Marie Stopes International.

Academic Health Science Networks

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the running costs are for each of the academic health science networks.

Norman Lamb: The information requested is not available.
	NHS England advises us that individual funding levels and programme costs vary between academic health science networks (AHSNs). NHS England budget allocations are not their sole source of income and AHSNs are seeking to supplement this funding through participation in strategic investment programmes and match-funding initiatives. Core running costs are for AHSNs to determine independently and may also be subject to change through the year.
	Further information on AHSN work programmes and business plans can be found on their websites:
	
		
			 AHSN Website 
			 East Midlands www.emahsn.ac.uk 
			 Eastern www.eahsn.org.uk 
			 Imperial College Health Partners www.imperialcollegehealth partners.com 
			 Greater Manchester www.gmahsn.org 
			 Kent, Surrey and Sussex www.kssahsn.net 
			 North East and North Cumbria www.ahsn-nenc.org.uk 
			 North West Coast www.nwcahsn.nhs.uk 
			 Oxford www.oxfordahsn.org 
			 South London www.kingshealthpartners.org/info/southlondonahsn 
			 South West Peninsula www.swahsn.com 
			 UCL Partners www.uclpartners.com 
			 Wessex www.wessexahsn.org 
			 West Midlands www.wmahsn.org 
			 West of England www.weahsn.net 
			 Yorkshire and Humber www.yhahsn.org.uk

Action on Smoking and Health

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether funding allocated to Action on Smoking and Health may be used for campaigning purposes by that body under the terms on which it is allocated.

Jane Ellison: Since 2011, the conditions for the grants provided to Action on Smoking and Health under the Department of Health’s “Section 64 General Scheme of Grants to voluntary and Community Organisations” arrangements have explicitly set out that none of the funding provided by the Department should be intended or used for political lobbying or campaigning purposes.
	Advocacy work in support of the implementation of existing Government tobacco control policies and programmes of work is acceptable.

Benzodiazepines

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of potential correlation between relative deprivation and the prescribing rates of benzodiazepines at GP practices.

Norman Lamb: The Department has undertaken no such assessment.

Brain: Tumours

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the sufficiency of access to information about support and services for people diagnosed with a brain tumour; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to encourage international collaboration in research and the sharing of best practice on quality of life for patients diagnosed with brain tumours.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has made a recent assessment of the sufficiency of access to information about support and services for people diagnosed with a brain tumour through its Peer Review Programme (PRP). This programme includes measures that require all brain and central nervous system multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) to demonstrate the availability and adequacy of patient information. The outcome of the 2013-14 assessment of compliance with these measures indicated that out of 91 MDTs and 36 treatment centres, 84% were compliant with the patient information measure at the most robust level.
	There is a programme of work aimed at improving the care and experience of people living with a diagnosis of cancer, developed in collaboration with Macmillan Cancer Support, which draws from a wide range of evidence-based good practice.
	The National Cancer Intelligence Network runs a brain and central nervous system-related cancers Clinical Reference Group, which works closely with brain cancer charities. In addition to this, the PRP measures participation in drug trials and research internationally.
	The Department works closely with its cancer research funding partners through the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). The NCRI is a strategic partnership of 22 Government, charity and industry cancer research funders, together with patients. The NCRI is a member of the International Cancer Research Partnership (ICRP), which includes cancer research funders from the USA, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia. The ICRP is a unique alliance of cancer organisations working together to enhance global collaboration and strategic co-ordination of research. Researchers can search the ICRP database to avoid duplication and identify collaborators in specific areas of cancer research, including brain tumour research.

Brain: Tumours

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what progress his Department has made on diagnosis rates of brain tumours in the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the sufficiency of access to imagery scanning for diagnosing brain tumours; and if he will issue revised guidance on when to refer a patient for a scan with the aim of raising diagnosis rates and decreasing mortality rates.

Jane Ellison: “Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer”, published on 12 January 2011, stated that general practitioners (GPs) need easy access to the right diagnostic tests to diagnose or exclude cancer earlier. The strategy committed over £450 million over four years, to achieve early diagnosis of cancer, including improving access to key diagnostic tests, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans to support the diagnosis of brain cancer. The funding was also designed to cover subsequent testing and treatment in secondary care.
	In 2012, the Department published “Direct Access to Diagnostic Tests for Cancer, Best Practice Referral Pathways for General Practitioners”. The document includes criteria for accessing key diagnostic tests, including MRI brain scan, and aims to raise awareness of the symptoms that require urgent referral to specialists and sets out where a direct referral for an MRI brain scan may benefit patients through achieving a faster diagnosis. GPs are able to access these tests directly in cases where the two- week urgent referral pathway is not appropriate but a patient’s symptoms require further investigation. The intention is that more people presenting with relevant symptoms will be tested and at an earlier stage.
	NHS England monitors the use of these diagnostic tests through the Diagnostic Imaging Dataset. Latest provisional data published by NHS England on 27 March 2014, for the period November 2012 to November 2013, showed that over a quarter of all tests that may have been used to diagnose or discount cancer were requested by GPs under direct access arrangements. In that period, 509,215 MRI tests were requested, including 35,055 through direct GP access arrangements. The published data are available at:
	www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/diagnostic-imaging-dataset/diagnostic-imaging-datasetdiagnostic-imaging-dataset-2013-14-data/
	Information on diagnosis rates of brain tumours is not centrally collected. Information on the number of patients with suspected brain or central nervous system tumours who were seen by a specialist within two weeks from a GP referral is provided in the attached tables, for the last 10 years.
	Before 2009, the operational standard for two-week waits was 98%. Starting from the 1 of January 2009, the basis for reporting waiting times data was changed. The new standards were set to be more in line with the already implemented referral to treatment routes. The scope of cover for the new standards was widened (as set out in the Cancer Reform Strategy 2008), and the collection was made simpler by not using clock pauses. From 2009 onwards the operational standard for two- week waits was set to 93% (assumed to be the maximum sustainable performance level) including tolerances for:
	The number of patients who make themselves unavailable or decline an appointment within two weeks.
	Patients who cancel a booked out-patient appointment (giving advance notice), and rebook appointments outside of 14 days.
	Information on number of patients with suspected brain or central nervous system tumours who were seen by a specialist within two weeks from a GP referral for the last 10 years (pre reporting waiting times data change).
	
		
			  Quarter Patients seen Within 14 days Percentage seen within 14 days 
			 2003-04 Q4 393 390 98.4 
			      
			 2004-05 Q1 427 420 98.4 
			  Q2 547 537 98.2 
			  Q3 587 583 99.3 
			  Q4 514 505 98.2 
			      
			 2005-06 Q1 579 574 99.1 
			  Q2 575 572 99.5 
			  Q3 647 641 99.1 
			  Q4 598 594 99.3 
			      
			 2006-07 Q1 657 653 99.4 
			  Q2 662 657 99.2 
			  Q3 887 882 99.4 
			  Q4 770 769 99.9 
			      
			 2007-08 Q1 829 825 99.5 
			  Q2 802 799 99.6 
			  Q3 867 865 99.8 
			  Q4 863 857 99.3 
			      
			 2008-09 Q1 867 862 99.4 
			  Q2 1,024 1,020 99.6 
			  Q3 972 969 99.7 
		
	
	Information on the number of patients with suspected brain or central nervous system tumours who were seen by a specialist within two weeks from a GP referral for the last 10 years (post reporting waiting times data change)
	
		
			  Quarter Patients seen Within 14 days Percentage seen within 14 days 
			 2008-09 Q4 930 893 96.0 
			      
			 2009-10 Q1 1,018 964 94.7 
			  Q2 1,132 1,102 97.3 
			  Q3 1,169 1,130 96.7 
			  Q4 1,156 1,119 96.8 
			      
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 Q1 1,192 1,156 97.0 
			  Q2 1,225 1,191 97.2 
			  Q3 1,236 1,191 96.4 
			  Q4 1,203 1,178 97.9 
			      
			 2011-12 Q1 1,316 1,276 97.0 
			  Q2 1,430 1,390 97.2 
			  Q3 1,533 1,482 96.7 
			  Q4 1,513 1,468 97.0 
			      
			 2012-13 Q1 1,386 1,325 95.6 
			  Q2 1,513 1,470 97.2 
			  Q3 1,711 1,665 97.3 
			  Q4 1,651 1,579 95.6 
			      
			 2013-14 Q1 1,795 1,730 96.4 
			  Q2 1,760 1,699 96.5 
			  Q3 1,921 1,861 96.9 
			 Source: Cancer waiting times database

Cancer

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent assessment his Department has made of the overall performance of cancer services against the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence breast cancer quality standard;
	(2)  what methods of data collection his Department uses to measure the performance of services against each of the 13 statements in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence breast cancer quality standard;
	(3)  what assessment his Department has made of the performance of cancer services against statements 11 and 12 in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence breast cancer quality standard.

Jane Ellison: The Health and Social Care Act (2012) places a duty on NHS England to have regard to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) quality standards. Commissioners should have regard to them in the planning of services they commission according to their population needs.
	While no assessment has been made of the performance of services against the breast cancer quality standard, compliance with quality standards generally could be monitored through a range of mechanisms depending on the specific quality standard. For example, the 30 national clinical audits funded by NHS England, the Best Practice Tariff, Commissioning for Quality Improvement Initiatives arrangements and the Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicator Set. These levers are designed to drive quality improvement in the national health service using quality standards where appropriate.
	At the request of NHS England, the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership will shortly begin commissioning a new national breast cancer clinical audit. There is an expectation that national clinical audits, where appropriate, support the implementation of NICE clinical guidelines and quality standards. The new national clinical audit will be in place by the end of 2014-15.

Cancer

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that future iterations of the Cancer Patient Experience Survey enable the responses of patients with primary and secondary cancer to be analysed separately;
	(2)  what recent discussions his Department has had on the potential for Patient Reported Outcome Measures to be used to measure improvements in outcomes for breast cancer patients.

Jane Ellison: No recent ministerial discussions have taken place on the potential for Patient Reported Outcome Measures to be used to measure improvements in outcomes for breast cancer patients.
	NHS England took over responsibility for the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES) on 1 April 2013. The development of the CPES is overseen by the Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group (CPEAG), which has a wide-ranging membership including clinicians, cancer charities, experts in survey methodologies, research bodies, health service commissioners and NHS England staff.
	The survey questionnaire is reviewed by CPEAG each year to ensure that it captures the best information and as part of the process for the next survey, NHS England is engaging with a range of stakeholders to look at how it can improve and amend the survey appropriately.
	In the meantime, NHS England has added a new question to the 2014 survey questionnaire to identify patients who have been diagnosed with cancer more than once because the evidence suggests that there may be a difference in the experience of those patients.
	The results of the 2014 survey will be published later this year.

Cancer

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has had with NHS England on steps to ensure that future iterations of the Cancer Patient Experience Survey allow the separate analysis of the response of patients with primary and secondary cancer.

Jane Ellison: There have been no recent discussions between the Department and NHS England on allowing the separate analysis of the response of patients with primary and secondary cancer in future iterations of the Cancer Patient Experience Survey (CPES).
	NHS England took over responsibility for the CPES on 1 April 2013. The development of the CPES is overseen by the Cancer Patient Experience Advisory Group (CPEAG), which has a wide-ranging membership, including clinicians, cancer charities, experts in survey methodologies, research bodies, health service commissioners and NHS England staff.
	The survey questionnaire is reviewed by CPEAG each year to ensure that it captures the best information and as part of the process for the next survey, NHS England is engaging with a range of stakeholders to look at how it can improve and amend the survey appropriately.
	In the meantime, NHS England has added a new question to the 2014 survey questionnaire to identify patients who have been diagnosed with cancer more than once because the evidence suggests that there may be a difference in the experience of those patients.
	The results of the 2014 survey will be published later this year.

Cancer: Drugs

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria his Department uses to decide whether to prescribe Kadcyla using funds from the Cancer Drugs Fund.

Norman Lamb: NHS England is responsible for administering the Cancer Drugs Fund. Its national Cancer Drugs Fund clinical panel added Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine) for the treatment of HER2-positive locally advanced/unresectable or metastatic breast cancer to its national cohort policies list in February 2014. Further information on how the panel made its decision is available at:
	www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/

Care Homes

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms his Department has in place to monitor standards in care homes for the elderly.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the 2008 Act) all providers of regulated activities, including national health service and independent providers, have to register with the CQC and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality.
	The CQC is currently introducing a new system of inspection of social care providers. This new system of inspection will be structured around five key questions that matter most to people—are the services safe, caring, effective, well-led and responsive to people’s needs. The new inspections will make more use of people’s views and will use expert inspection teams involving people who have personal experience of care. The CQC has been piloting this new approach in 252 social care providers since April 2014.
	The Department is also working with the CQC to develop fundamental standards, which will set out the line below which care should never fall—they will be requirements that all providers of health and social care registered with the CQC must meet. The CQC will be able to take action including prosecution where providers are not meeting these standards. These fundamental standards will apply to all registered providers across health and adult social care.

Care Homes

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the use of CCTV in care homes.

Norman Lamb: The Department currently has no plans to require the installation of CCTV in care homes. However, we do have to recognise that recent cases of abuse and neglect have been exposed as the result of hidden cameras. We acknowledge that there are occasions when it may be appropriate for their use to be considered.
	The Care Quality Commission is exploring whether hidden cameras might be used as part of its investigations. It is consulting widely on the use of covert surveillance and will take account of a wide range of views before making its decision.

Care Homes

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are in place to allow families of patients in care homes to report concerns about standards of care.

Norman Lamb: Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 requires all care providers registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to:
	“have an effective system in place for identifying, receiving, handling and responding appropriately to complaints and comments made by service users, or persons acting on their behalf”.
	Where a person’s care is provided or arranged by their local authority, complaints and concerns should be directed initially to the local authority, which remains responsible for the quality of care. If a person has arranged their own care, they should pursue the matter directly with the provider in the first instance.
	In both cases, should complainants not be satisfied with the response, they are entitled to ask the Local Government Ombudsman to investigate.
	People may also raise concerns with the CQC, as regulator of health and adult social care services. Under the 2008 Act, the CQC does not have the responsibility for investigating specific complaints about social care providers. However, where there are concerns about a provider which is registered with the CQC, such concerns should be brought to its attention. The CQC will use this information, together with local information from partners and the public, to help it decide when, where and what to inspect.
	The CQC is currently introducing a new system of inspection of social care providers. This new system of inspection will be structured around five key questions that matter most to people—are the services safe, caring, effective, well-led, and responsive to people’s needs. The new inspections will make more use of people’s views and will use expert inspection teams involving people who have personal experience of care. The CQC has been piloting this new approach in 252 social care providers since April 2014.

Cerebral Palsy: Children

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to ensure that health professionals are trained in the identification and notification of (a) all special educational needs and (b) educational needs related to cerebral palsy in children under two years of age.

Daniel Poulter: The Government work with Health Education England, which provides leadership on the training of the health workforce, and the professional regulatory bodies, such as the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which set professional standards, to ensure that health professionals are appropriately trained in identification and support of children with special educational needs, or cerebral palsy.
	Clinical commissioning groups are under a statutory duty to make arrangements to notify the local authority where a provider is of the opinion that a child under compulsory school age has special educational needs (having first discussed this with the child’s parents). The Children and Families Act introduces new arrangements for local authorities and health services to work together to support children with special educational needs.

Cervical Cancer

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health who will have responsibility for cervical screening under the forthcoming Public Health England commissioning framework.

Jane Ellison: The National Health Service (NHS) Cervical Screening Programme is commissioned by NHS England under the NHS public health functions agreement 2014-15 (the Section 7a agreement, covering public health functions to be exercised by NHS England on behalf of the Department). Public Health England is responsible for the piloting and roll-out of new screening programmes or improvements to existing programmes, including the current pilot of human papillomavirus testing as primary screening.

Childbirth

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will bring forward from 42 weeks the period for inducing labour in at-risk expectant mothers.

Daniel Poulter: The induction of labour is a clinical decision for health care professionals. These decisions are based on the latest available evidence and take account of the risk and other clinical factors for each individual pregnancy.
	To assist health care professionals, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has published clinical guidelines on the induction of labour, which are available on the NICE website at:
	www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/12012/41256/41256.pdf
	The NICE guidelines advise that women with uncomplicated pregnancies should usually be offered induction of labour between 41+0 and 42+0 weeks.
	Women can be deemed high- risk for a multitude of reasons. Each reason will carry its own set of criteria for delivery. It is not possible to say that induction for all at- risk pregnancies should be brought forward as these should be reviewed according to individual needs.

Dementia

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of dementia awareness training in the health and social care sector; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The Government’s Mandate to Health Education England (HEE), published in May 2013, included the following deliverables:
	All national health service staff who look after patients with dementia can have foundation level dementia training; and
	100,000 NHS staff will have received foundation level training by 31 March 2014.
	The latest data available from HEE show that over 108,000 NHS staff had completed Tier 1 dementia awareness training by 14 October 2013.
	The Department has commissioned a number of projects on dementia education and training for health and social care staff and is working closely with its Workforce Advisory Group on dementia to consider the effectiveness of this work.

Dementia: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps are being taken in Lancashire to help provide greater care for people with dementia;
	(2)  what funding has been made available in Lancashire to help diagnose the early onset of dementia since May 2010.

Norman Lamb: Improving the quality of care for people with dementia and their carers is a priority for this Government and we continue to support the national health service, who make decisions locally on spending on dementia care.
	In 2010-11, £90 million was made available nationally for dementia to the NHS through central allocations to support timely diagnosis of the condition and to ensure that by 2015, two-thirds of people with dementia have a diagnosis and receive appropriate support following diagnosis.
	NHS organisations in Lancashire also received capital funding from the Department through a programme to improve environments of care for people with dementia. In 2013-14, East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust received £950,000 and Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust received £1,014,288.

Departmental Responsibilities

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) meetings, (b) items of written correspondence, (c) phone calls, (d) consultation responses, (e) tenders and (f) other individual communications and contacts his Department has had with (i) Johnson & Johnson, (ii) Ethicon and (iii) BARD.

Norman Lamb: Within the last 12 months, the Department has had regular communication with a number of pharmaceutical, device and diagnostic manufacturers, on a wide range of topics. However, the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Diabetes: Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many adolescents were diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

Jane Ellison: Neither the Department nor NHS England collects this information centrally.
	The majority of adolescents with diabetes have their disease managed through specialist paediatric diabetes services. It is estimated that 97% of children with diabetes have type 1, 1.5% have type 2 and 1.5% have other types of diabetes.
	There is a National Paediatric Diabetes Audit run by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health; more information on this audit can be found at:
	www.rcpch.ac.uk/national-paediatric-diabetes-audit-npda

Drugs: Poisoning

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 July 2013, Official Report, column 1667W, on drugs: poisoning, how many (a) men, (b) women and (c) children were admitted to hospital for drug poisoning, showing ICD10 codes T36-T50 separately at a four character level in 2013.

Jane Ellison: The information requested has been placed in the Library. It provides a count of the number of finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of T36-T50 for male and female adults and children for the year 2012-13. Explanatory footnotes have also been provided.
	It should be noted that this is not a count of patients as the same patient may have been admitted more than once in a year.

Electronic Cigarettes

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what his policy is on the licensing of e-cigarettes;
	(2)  whether his Department has given consideration to licensing e-cigarettes as medicines.

Jane Ellison: On 14 March 2014, European Union member states formally adopted the revised Tobacco Products Directive, including the provisions for regulation of electronic cigarettes. Article 18 of the directive will subject electronic cigarettes to consumer products legislation, with specific additional regulatory requirements unless they fall under the definition of a medicinal product.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is continuing to focus on regulating medicinal nicotine containing products, including electronic cigarettes, to enable licensed products that meet appropriate standards of safety, quality and efficacy to be available. Marketing authorisation applications have been submitted and interest in licensing continues.

Electronic Cigarettes

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will put restrictions in place to prevent the promotion of e-cigarettes to people under the age of 16 years.

Jane Ellison: The revised Tobacco Products Directive (Directive 2014/40/EU) will prohibit the advertising of e-cigarettes marketed as consumer electronic products where there is a cross-border dimension, for example television, radio, newspapers and magazines. The Department will consult on the transposition of the Directive into United Kingdom law and seek views on the need for domestic provisions on advertising.
	It was not possible to achieve age-of-sale controls through the revised Directive so the Government have already moved quickly to take regulation-making powers for Ministers in England and Wales to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s, through the Children and Families Act. In England, we plan to bring this new law into effect within the current Parliament.

General Practitioners

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the average annual change in income for GP practices in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Tower Hamlets arising from the withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the average annual change in income to GP practices in (a) England, (b) London and (c) Tower Hamlets arising from changes to points available for payment-related indicators under the Quality and Outcomes Framework.

Daniel Poulter: The overall effect of the average annual changes in income for general practitioner (GP) practices as a result of the withdrawal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee is as follows:
	(a) England—no change;
	(b) London—a decrease of £948,000 spread across 721 General Medical Services (GMS) practices; and
	(c) Tower Hamlets—a decrease of £184,000 spread across 21 GMS practices.
	The overall effect of the average annual changes in income for GP practices as a result of the changes to Quality and Outcomes Framework payments is as follows:
	(a) England—no change;
	(b) London—an increase of £1,680,000 spread across 721 GMS practices; and
	(c) Tower Hamlets—an increase of £138,000 spread across 21 GMS practices.
	NHS England modelled these figures based on current practice populations.

General Practitioners

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment has been made of the effects of the removal of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee on (a) GP services and (b) the income of GPs; and if he will commission research on the range and extent on GP income in Tower Hamlets.

Daniel Poulter: As part of the general practitioner (GP) contract settlement in 2013, the Department decided to phase out Minimum Practice Income Guarantee (MPIG) top-up payments over a seven-year period, starting in the coming financial year 2014-15. This means that MPIG payments to practices will be reduced by one seventh every year from 1 April 2014.
	The money released by doing this will be reinvested in the basic payments made to all General Medical Services practices, which are based on numbers of patients and key determinants of practice workload, such as patient age, health needs and the unavoidable costs of providing services in rural areas. The decision to implement the changes over a period of seven years is designed to allow those practices that will lose funding to adjust gradually.
	GPs are independent contractors and are responsible for deciding their own levels of income. The decision on how to address specific local issues will be taken by NHS England’s area teams after a full assessment of local circumstances. We understand that NHS England’s primary care team in London is in regular contact with the Chief Officer of Tower Hamlets clinical commissioning group about this issue.

General Practitioners

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on the (a) numbers of GP practices and (b) services offered by GP practices of removing performance indicators from the Quality and Outcomes Framework.

Jane Ellison: We have reduced the number of indicators in the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) by more than a third. This is intended to free up time for general practitioners (GPs) to provide more personalised care, which includes the new responsibility of providing a named GP for all of their patients aged 75 and over. The money released from the QOF will be reinvested in general practice.
	We understand that NHS England is currently developing the specifications and reporting protocols that will be required to capture the information provided by the retired QOF indicators.
	This will enable NHS England’s commissioning teams, clinical commissioning groups and the Care Quality Commission to take this information into account in reaching rounded judgments about the quality of care provided by general practice. It will also be used to evaluate the impact of the indicators that were retired on 1 April 2014, and will inform future decisions about the development of QOF.
	NHS England has recently undertaken an analysis to identify ‘outlier’ practices—those that will lose the largest amount of funding per patient as a result of the phasing out of the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee. Details of these practices have been sent to NHS England area teams.
	In a small number of cases where there are exceptional underlying factors that necessitate additional funding—for example because a practice is serving an atypical population—it is anticipated that area teams will meet with the practices to discuss and agree arrangements to ensure that appropriate services for patients continue to be available.

General Practitioners

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many complaints against GPs have resulted in a GP being struck off by the General Medical Council in the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: The General Medical Council (GMC) is an independent body and responsible for dealing firmly and fairly with doctors whose fitness to practise is in doubt. The information in this response has been provided by the GMC.
	Table 1 shows the numbers of complaints against general practitioners (GPs) and the number of investigations resulting from those complaints in each of the last five years. Table 2 shows the number of GPs erased from the register in each of the last five years.
	
		
			 Table 1 
			  Complaints Investigations 
			  All doctors GPs All doctors GPs 
			 2009 5,773 2,085 1,758 564 
			 2010 7,153 2,899 2,066 757 
			 2011 8,781 3,291 2,330 817 
			 2012 10,347 4,017 2,708 1,021 
			 2013 9,866 3,530 2,939 1,098 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2 
			  Erased 
			  All GPs 
			 2009 78 30 
			 2010 93 35 
			 2011 77 26 
			 2012 74 18 
			 2013 67 18 
			 Note: The number of complaints and investigations are directly related but the number of erasures are not necessarily related or from the same cohort of cases that are received/investigated for the same year given the timing of complaints and final hearings/appeals. Also to note, the GMC changed the way it recorded enquiries in 2013. The GMC no longer records notification around Performers Lists unless there is a wider fitness to practice concern. The numbers are therefore not directly comparable to previous years.

General Practitioners: Isle of Wight

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which GP surgeries on the Isle of Wight will open for extended hours as a result of the GP Access Fund.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England received more than 250 expressions of interest for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund. 20 successful general practitioner collaborations were awarded investment to run pilot schemes for a year. There were no successful expressions of interest from practices on the Isle of Wight.
	The pilot schemes will be reviewed in the summer, with a view to full evaluation from April 2015. Following the evaluation, we intend to roll out learning and best practice from the pilots to the rest of the country.

General Practitioners: Tower Hamlets

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what meetings have taken place between officials in his Department and officers of (a) the Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group and (b) the Regional or Sub Regional NHS to discuss the effects on GP services in Tower Hamlets of changes to the Quality and Outcomes Framework and Minimum Practice Income Guarantee.

Daniel Poulter: The head of primary care for NHS England for North Central and East London met with the chief officers of all London clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on 14 February 2014 at their London-wide forum and discussed the planned changes to the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee. This included offering to meet with practices alongside the CCG if requested.
	The NHS England primary care team in London has had communication on a number of occasions by telephone and email with the Chief Officer of Tower Hamlets CCG regarding the potential impact on practices of changes to the Minimum Practice Income Guarantee and Quality and Outcomes Framework.

Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 120W, on haemolytic uraemic syndrome, what discussions NHS England has had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) since 1 January 2014 on NICE's appraisal of eculizumab; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: We understand that NHS England was formally consulted on the scope of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) evaluation of eculizumab for atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome. NHS England was also consulted on the evaluation consultation document, which was published on 27 February 2014.
	Following the publication of NICE’s draft guidance on eculizumab, NICE sought further advice from NHS England on what considerations relating to the management of its specialised commissioning budget it considers should be taken into account in formulating a recommendation. The response from NHS England will be considered by NICE at the next meeting of the evaluation committee.

Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 24 March 2014, Official Report, column 120W, on haemolytic uraemic syndrome, for what reasons it was felt that further advice was needed on the overall cost implications, benefits and affordability of eculizumab; when it was first concluded that such further advice was needed; for what reasons the seeking of that advice was delayed until the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence took on responsibility for assessing highly specialised technologies; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Ministers concluded that further advice was needed on the overall cost implications, benefits and affordability of eculizumab as, while Advisory Group for National Specialised Services (AGNSS) members were convinced of the clinical effectiveness of the drug, they noted the very high costs of the drug and the increasing cost profile for the national health service.
	AGNSS was informed of this decision on 17 January 2013. On 7 February 2013, the Department conveyed its decision to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) so that NICE could begin preparatory work in advance of taking on formal responsibility for evaluating highly specialised technologies on 1 April 2013.
	While NICE carries out its evaluation, the current interim commissioning arrangements by NHS England in line with the ‘Clinical Commissioning Policy Statement: Eculizumab for atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome’ will remain in place. The policy statement is available at:
	www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/e03-hss-a.pdf

Health Professions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the effect that new public health structures are having on community obstetrics and gynaecology (a) workforce planning and (c) continuing professional development.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State has delegated to Health Education England (HEE) the responsibility for delivering a better health and health care workforce for England. HEE plans and develops the workforce to ensure a secure workforce supply for the future, balancing need against demand.
	The local education and training boards, which are sub-committees of HEE, work with local health care providers, including employers, to contribute to HEE’s overall future workforce plan. It is the responsibility of health care employers to ensure they have the right staff, with the right skills to deliver high-quality care, which includes supporting their continuing professional development.

Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many of his Department's agencies, non-departmental public bodies or sponsored bodies have developed their own global health strategies.

Jane Ellison: In addition to the cross-Government global health strategy, ‘Health is Global: An outcome framework for global health 2011-2015’, published in 2011, Public Health England is developing a global health strategy.
	This will complement, and will be consistent with, ‘Health is Global’.

Health Services: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) nurses, (b) doctors and (c) surgeons have been employed at (i) Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and (ii) Nottingham University Hospitals in each year since 2007.

Daniel Poulter: Information on the number of (a) qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff (b) hospital and community health service (HCHS) doctors and (c) surgeons employed at (i) Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (FT) and (ii) Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust in each year since 2007 is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Full-time equivalents 
			   As at September each year 
			 Organisation Type 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS FT HCHS doctors 336 341 361 378 375 381 400 
			  Of which surgical group: 92 93 95 99 102 100 104 
			  Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 975 961 982 1,026 1,080 1,058 1,089 
		
	
	
		
			 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust HCHS doctors 1,229 1,320 1,357 1,404 1,403 1,449 1,464 
			  Of which surgical group: 290 317 323 328 312 320 322 
			  Qualified nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 3,060 3,119 3,205 3,272 3,437 3,630 3,725 
			 Notes: 1. Surgical group includes: cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, paediatric surgery, plastic surgery, trauma and orthopaedic surgery, urology, vascular surgery. 2. These statistics relate to the contracted positions within English NHS organisations and may include those where the person assigned to the position is temporarily absent, for example on maternity leave. Sources: 1. Health and Social Care Information Centre Medical and Dental Workforce Census. 2. Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census.

Health Services: Prisons

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many hospital attendances there were from each prison in each of the last four years;
	(2)  how many hospital attendances there were from the (a) adult male, (b) adult female, (c) youth male, (d) youth female and (e) total prison estate in each of the last four years.

Norman Lamb: This information is not collected centrally by the Department or NHS England.

Hospitals: Parking

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had on affordability of hospital car parks.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has had a number of recent meetings in relation to the affordability of car parking in the national health service. He has asked his officials to produce guidance for hospitals to identify which groups should receive concessionary or free parking, including disabled patients and visitors, those whose condition demands that they make frequent visits to hospital, and patients and visitors on a low income.

Infant Mortality

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will consider creating the role of bereavement midwives to work exclusively with parents who have experienced the death of their baby shortly before, during or after birth; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to ensure that information on bereavement support and services is made available to parents who have suffered the loss of a baby.

Daniel Poulter: It is for the national health service locally to ensure appropriate facilities and services are in place to support bereaved parents following the death of a baby. In line with the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Standards of proficiency for pre-registration midwifery education, all midwives should be proficient in providing care for women who have suffered pregnancy loss, stillbirth or neonatal death.
	To assist NHS commissioners and providers, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ ‘Standards for Gynaecology and Standards for Maternity’ sets out clear standards for the level of care provided to help women and their partners experiencing pregnancy loss, including the availability of skilled staff to support parents following a stillbirth or miscarriage. A number of trusts now employ specialist bereavement midwives to provide this support.
	Local NHS maternity care providers are responsible for ensuring parents receive appropriate information on bereavement support and services following the death of a baby. To complement information provided locally, information on support for parents after a stillbirth is available on the NHS Choices website at:
	http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Stillbirth/Pages/Getting-help.aspx

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

John Stanley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what specific steps he will take to place the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust on a stable and secure long-term financial footing.

Daniel Poulter: The National Health Service Trust Development Authority (TDA) is working with the trust to determine its financial recovery plans. The trust’s five-year sustainability plan is currently being developed, and is due to be submitted on 20 June 2014.
	The NHS TDA has also been involved in the recruitment of the trust’s new finance director, and is supportive of the appointment of the trust’s turnaround director.
	NHS West Kent clinical commissioning group is also working with the trust to ensure its future sustainability.

Meat

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risk that meat not fit for human consumption could enter the human supply chain; and what steps his Department is taking to reduce such risks.

Jane Ellison: Food businesses have responsibility for producing safe meat. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) makes sure that meat not fit for human consumption does not enter the food chain, through the deployment of staff carrying out official controls or through the work of local authorities nationally. The provision of monitoring, sampling, surveillance and inspection across the links of the food chain are carried out in approved and registered food businesses. The legislation governing the production of meat is set out in various European Union and national regulations.
	Key areas of control are:
	enforcement of strict regulatory standards and assessment of records relating to Food Business Operators’ food safety management systems;
	approval and registration of meat premises ensuring that only premises that meet the minimum standards set may operate;
	identification and labelling, animal health, animal welfare and veterinary hygiene activities;
	the enforcement of EU and national rules relating to production and processing of meat, and its storage and distribution is assessed through risk-based audits and unannounced inspections;
	a network of veterinary research laboratories following sampling activities to test meat products for veterinary medicine residues, campylobacter etc.;
	close co-operation with the FSA and other Government Agencies on food safety issues;
	reporting of food fraud issues and wider cascade of topical areas of concern for focused attention and actions; and
	reporting of meat rejection results for disease surveillance and assessing the risk with a view to disease eradication and control programmes.
	In slaughterhouses, official veterinarians carry out checks on live animals presented for slaughter, with inspectors carrying out post-mortem inspection checks of carcases and offal. In accordance with EU and national legislation, only meat that has passed stringent safety checks by the FSA will be health marked and allowed to enter the food chain.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what ways NHS patient data extracted under care.data can be retrieved.

Daniel Poulter: When a patient objects to information about them leaving the general practitioner practice and/or the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), the objection will be applied from the point at which they object. Patients can also make a request for any information that identifies them to be removed from the different data collections. A patient can do this by contacting the HSCIC. To do this they need to complete a form available on the HSCIC website:
	www.hscic.gov.uk/policyprocs

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what payment the Health and Social Care Information Centre received for allowing PA Consulting to use NHS data.

Daniel Poulter: The Health and Social Care Information Centre's predecessor organisation, the NHS Information Centre, received a not-for-profit charge for administering the application process and the preparing of data extracts. A charge of £2,155 excluding VAT was made to PA Consulting.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason no risk assessment was made of the care.data programme; and which Minister in his Department authorised not making such an assessment.

Daniel Poulter: There has been no decision made not to have a risk assessment for the care.data programme. Risks and issues are considered by the care.data programme board at regular meetings.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 April 2014, Official Report, column 44W, on medical records: databases, to which new legislation under consideration by Parliament that answer refers.

Daniel Poulter: The new legislation under consideration by Parliament that the answer of 7 April refers to is the Health and Care Bill currently being considered by Parliament. It was last debated in the House of Commons on 11 March.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 357W, on medical records: databases, if he will publish the Major Projects Authority's assurance process carried out for care.data.

Daniel Poulter: The care.data programme is presently under review by the Major Project Authority in line with their standard assurance processes.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 356W, on medical records: databases, whether all third parties to which identifiable NHS patient data have been disclosed under care.data will be routinely audited to ensure that the terms of the agreement are being followed.

Daniel Poulter: No data have been collected or provided yet under the care.data programme. The Health and Social Care Information Centre is implementing plans to strengthen its audit capabilities in relation to data sharing.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 355W, on medical records: databases, what data sharing agreements have been made by the (a) NHS Information Centre and (b) Health and Social Care Information Centre which permit the provision of additional data post 31 March 2014.

Daniel Poulter: The circumstances in which the NHS Information Centre (NHSIC) and the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) permit the provision of additional data post 31 March 2014 are:
	NHSIC made an agreement for ongoing provision of data post 31 March 2014;
	HSCIC made an agreement for ongoing data provision between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014; and
	HSCIC has provided data after 31 March 2014.
	For data provided to researchers, the approval is given once and then only provided on an ongoing basis, subject to review. Applications which are still live and may receive data will have been made prior to 1 April 2013 by the NHSIC.
	HSCIC has announced a review of all data releases made by the NHSIC. This review is being led by Sir Nick Partridge and will be published before the end of May 2014.
	Lists of the data sharing agreements made by NHSIC and HSCIC which permit the provision of additional data post 31 March 2014 have been placed in the Library.

Medical Records: Databases

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 13 March 2014, Official Report, column 358W, on medical records: databases, on what date the extraction requirement for care.data will be finished; and whether that requirement will be publicly available.

Daniel Poulter: The General Practice Extraction Service Independent Assurance Group discussed an updated customer requirement for NHS England’s care.data programme at the 27 March 2013 meeting. At the meeting, the board agreed by majority vote that this requirement should proceed.
	A copy of this document can be found on the Health and Social Care website at the following link:
	www.hscic.gov.uk/media/11705/Care-Data-IAG-Submission-Template---27-March-2013-NIC-178106-MLSXW/pdf/Care_Data_IAG_Submission_Template_-_27_March_2013_(NIC-178106-MLSXW).pdf

Mental Health Services: Children

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what systems are in place for recording and publication of children's deaths in psychiatric hospitals who had been either forcefully detained or voluntary in-patients; and to which authority such deaths are reported.

Norman Lamb: From 1 April 2008, all Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) have had a statutory responsibility to review the deaths of all children from birth (excluding still born babies) up to 18 years, who are normally resident within their area. This is known as the Child Death Review Process. Their responsibilities include setting up a Child Death Overview Panel which reviews child deaths on behalf of the LSCB. This would include deaths in psychiatric in-patient settings. The following link presents data collected from LSCBs in England to the year ending 31 March 2013.
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-death-reviews-year-ending-31-march-2013
	The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is currently developing a system of Intelligent Monitoring for Mental Health services; it is considering which indicators, including those that relate to Serious Untoward Incidents, to include in it. This will include children and young people.
	The CQC is the official source of information on deaths of patients subject to the Mental Health Act. A link to the CQC’s “Monitoring the Mental Health Act 2012/13” is:
	www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/cqc_mentalhealth_2012_13_07_update.pdf
	Further information can be obtained from:
	The Care Quality Commission (CQC)
	public.affairs@cqc.org.uk

Mental Health Services: Children

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children of each (a) age and (b) gender have died while in-patients (i) at psychiatric hospitals in total as either forcefully detained or voluntary in-patients and (ii) in each institution in each year since 2000.

Norman Lamb: Since April 2008 all Local Safeguarding Children Boards have had a statutory duty to review the death of all children from birth to age 18. Statistics on these Child Death Reviews are collated and published by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and are available on the CQC’s website:
	www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-child-death-reviews
	Statistics on the location of child deaths are available from 2010 onward and show that in this time, no child has died in an in-patient mental health unit.
	According to data from the Mental Health Act Commission, six females and one male under 18 died between 2003 and 2008. Owing to patient confidentiality these figures cannot be broken down to each institution.

Mental Health Services: Children

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what systems and controls are in place for recording, monitoring and oversight of the use of force and restraint against children receiving psychiatric in-patient care.

Norman Lamb: The Department does not currently collect data on restraint.
	The Department is planning on categorising physical restraint as a patient safety incident. All incidents of restraint against children receiving psychiatric in-patient care will need to be reported to the National Reporting and Learning System.
	Mental Health Commissioners visit patients detained under the Mental Health Act, including children, and review all aspects of their care, including restraint.
	Plans for the monitoring and oversight of restraint in psychiatric in-patient services will form part of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC’s) new inspection approach for all hospitals. The CQC is currently consulting on its handbooks for all sectors and has set out its planned approach to assessing services against five questions: Are they safe? Are they effective? Are they caring? Are they responsive? Are they well-led? Restraint will be reviewed in services against the question of whether the service is safe, and the CQC is developing guidance for both providers and inspection teams that will draw upon good practice guidance and tools. For children’s psychiatric services specifically, this would require specific key lines of inquiry to be used.
	The CQC is planning to work with the NHS Confederation to look at how the CQC expects providers to implement the guidance as set out in ‘Positive and Safe’ and how this will be used in our monitoring and oversight approaches. ‘Positive and Safe’ is a two-year programme with the principal aim to radically reduce all restrictive interventions, including ending the deliberate use of face-down restraint and—outside the Mental Health Act—seclusion. The work group will be preparing guidance on restraint in the light of ‘Positive and Safe’ and using this to inform CQC tools and inspection methodology. The CQC always considers providers’ approaches to restraint when carrying out comprehensive inspections. Mental Health Act monitoring visits to in-patient units will also look at individual concerns relating to restraint practices. The methodology for all reviews and inspections which the CQC carries out is informed by the available guidance and the Mental Health Act Code of Practice.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the increase in demand for child and adolescent mental health following the launch of the MindEd e-portal; and what steps it is taking to accommodate that increase.

Norman Lamb: The Department has not made an estimate of the increase in demand for child and adolescent mental health following the launch of the MindEd e-portal on 25 March 2014.
	We know that many schools want to do more to help children who are, or may be, experiencing mental health problems. Many now have their own programmes and mental health support, such as a school-based counsellor, while others have whole school approaches to mental and emotional health. We want to ensure that such programmes offer the best support possible, but also that schools are better able to identify mental health problems in their pupils sooner.
	The Department funded the MindEd website, which will help anyone working with children, including all school staff, to spot the signs of mental health problems in children and help them get the support they need. Spotting the signs of mental health problems early in children and young people is essential to prevent problems from escalating and continuing into adulthood.
	The Chief Medical Officer has recommended better data on children and young people’s mental health. The Department, with arm’s length bodies (ALBs) and other key partners, is currently looking at the options available for arranging a survey of children and young people to look at prevalence of mental health conditions. We are seeking advice from colleagues in the Department’s Health and Social Care Information Centre to consider options for the survey, and what such a survey would be able to tell us.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of places for children and adolescents receiving mental health services are publicly funded; and what proportion of such places are provided by (a) private and (b) public sector health care institutions.

Norman Lamb: NHS England holds only information on beds for children and adolescents receiving mental health services that are funded by the national health service (i.e. publicly funded). The NHS commissions 474 beds for children and adolescents receiving mental health services from independent providers and 783 beds from the NHS.

Mental Illness

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what criteria his Department use to define illness as mental as opposed to physical;
	(2)  what proportion of NHS funding is allocated to (a) mental and (b) physical health care;
	(3)  what estimate has he made of the cost to the economy of untreated mental illness.

Norman Lamb: The International Classification of Diseases is the standard diagnostic tool for epidemiology, health management and clinical purposes. This includes the analysis of the general health situation of population groups. It is used to monitor the incidence and prevalence of diseases and other health problems.
	The Tenth Revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems includes in Chapter V a detailed classification of more than 300 mental and behavioural disorders. Its publication follows extensive field-testing by more than 100 clinical and research centres in 40 countries.
	Aggregate primary care trust (PCT) expenditure on mental health was £11.28 billion in 2012-13, which is 11.9% of the £94.78 billion total spend by PCTs. The estimate of expenditure on mental health does not include the majority of expenditure on primary care appointments, which is recorded as a separate programme category.
	It is not possible to provide an estimate of expenditure on physical health. A number of programme categories will have elements of expenditure which could be classified as non-physical, for example learning disabilities, neurological and social care.
	The Department has made no estimate of the cost to the economy of untreated mental illness.

Midwives

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the benefits of all expectant mothers being assigned one specific midwife for the duration of their pregnancy in ensuring (a) continued care, (b) correct information being received and (c) prevention of stillbirth.

Daniel Poulter: The benefits of pregnant women being cared for by a named midwife are widely recognised. The latest available evidence for antenatal clinical practice was considered as part of the development of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) Quality Standard for antenatal care in 2012. Based on this evidence, NICE recommends that pregnant women are cared for by a named midwife who is responsible for providing all or most of her antenatal and postnatal care and the women’s coordinating care should they not be available.
	The Care Quality Commission’s 2013 survey of women’s experiences of maternity care found that women who saw the same midwife each time tended to report more positive experiences of antenatal and postnatal care.
	Health Education England is currently leading a project to explore the ambitions for personalised maternity care and consider different scenarios for how maternity services could be configured in the future, including the capability and capacity of the workforce.

Midwives

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he is satisfied with the current levels of recruitment to midwifery; and what steps he is taking to encourage recruitment of midwives.

Daniel Poulter: Health Education England is working with NHS England to ensure that sufficient midwives and other maternity staff are trained and available to provide every woman with personalised one-to-one care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and during the post-natal period.
	Since June 2012, there are over 6,000 more midwives in training to qualify over the next three years. The latest figures show there are 21,888 qualified midwives (full-time equivalent) working in the NHS in England.
	It is the responsibility of local NHS organisations to assess the health needs of their local communities and ensure they have the right staff with the right skills to deliver high-quality and safe care.

NHS England

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 28 April 2014, Official Report, column 460W, on NHS England, with reference to the people referred to in the answer who have taken up jobs at NHS England from his Department, what their job titles and salary levels (a) were at his Department and (b) are at NHS England.

Daniel Poulter: The information requested is shown in the table.
	It should be noted that the size and scope of the new NHS England director roles were formally evaluated and the salary reflects the significantly more complex nature of each role compared to the previous roles at the Department. In any case, the posts concerned are not directly comparable, particularly in salary terms, since one body employs staff on civil service pay and conditions and the other employs on national health service pay and conditions of service.
	
		
			 Job Titles and Salary Levels: Department and NHS England 
			  Job Title at the Department of Health Department of Health Salary Band Job Title at NHS England NHS England Salary Band 
			 Miles Ayling Director of Innovation and Science Improvement £85,000 to £89,999 Director of Innovation £115,000 to £119,999 
			 Ben Dyson Director of Commissioning Policy and Primary Care £90,000 to £94,999 Director of Commissioning Policy and Primary Care £120,000 to £124,999 
			 Dominic Hardy Seconded to South Central Strategic Health Authority £95,000 to £99,999 Regional Director of Operations and Delivery £140,000 to £144,999 
			 John Holden Seconded to the NHS Commissioning Board £80,000 to £84,999 Director of System Policy £125,000 to £129,999 
			 Richard Murray Director of Finance, Quality, Strategy and Analysis and Chief Economist/Analyst £90,000 to £94,999 Chief Analyst £125,000 to £129,999 
			 Keith Ridge Chief Pharmaceutical Officer £90,000 to £94,999 Chief Pharmaceutical Officer £110,000 to £114,999 
			 Giles Wilmore Director of Quality Framework and Information Strategy £85,000 to £89,999 Director of Patient and Public Voice and Information £115,000 to £119,999

NHS: Management Consultants

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much (a) NHS England, (b) Clinical Commissioning Groups, (c) Commissioning Support Units and (d) Monitor spent on consultancy workers in the last financial year.

Daniel Poulter: As final year accounts have not yet been produced for Monitor or for NHS England, it is not at this time possible to give actual spend figures for 2013-14.

NHS: Procurement

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much NHS England spent on tendering for clinical services in 2013-14.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England has advised that it does not hold information on spend on tendering for clinical services. Staff payroll costs will form the majority of the cost of any tendering process and it is not possible to determine what proportion of each individual staff member’s time is spent on this work.

NHS: Standards

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the online system for members of the public to compare hospitals on the basis of safety indicators will include information on cases in which patients with conditions such as Parkinson's have not received their medication on time; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: We are working with NHS England to prepare for the publication on NHS Choices of an extended set of patient safety indicators later this year. These indicators are being gathered together in a manner that will allow patients to compare local hospitals on the basis of a more rounded picture of safety performance than has been previously available in one place. The initial focus of this presentation will be on indicators that are relevant to the general population of hospital inpatients and for which information is available. There is not currently, to our knowledge, a suitable source of data regarding delayed medication for those being treated for diseases such as Parkinson’s.

NHS: Training

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure NHS staff have the appropriate training to communicate effectively and compassionately with patients at difficult times in the diagnosis and treatment process; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The content and standard of health care professional training is the responsibility of health care regulators, which are independent statutory bodies. They have the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that students and newly qualified professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.
	The Government have mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and work force development in the national health service. HEE will work with stakeholders to influence training curricula as appropriate.
	The Government have announced a series of actions that demonstrate its commitment to creating a culture of openness, candour, learning and accountability in an NHS which puts compassion at its heart. These include: placing compassionate care at the heart of the training and recruitment of NHS staff; implementing the Compassion in Practice strategy for nursing and midwifery; and a new care certificate for health care assistants.

Ophthalmology

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the waiting time is for new routine referrals to ophthalmology in each NHS hospital trust area;
	(2)  what the waiting time is for a routine new referral to ophthalmology in the Western Sussex Hospitals Trust area; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Information on the median average waiting time for patients waiting to start consultant-led ophthalmology treatment for all national health service trusts and NHS foundation trusts in England is shown in the following table.
	Latest data for February 2014 show that the median average waiting time for patients waiting to start consultant-led ophthalmology treatment in the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is 8.6 weeks.
	
		
			 Monthly referral to treatment (RTT) waiting times for incomplete pathways in ophthalmology, February 2014 
			 Provider name Average (median) waiting time (in weeks) 
			 Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 4.7 
			 Airedale NHS Foundation Trust 4.1 
			 Ashford And St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4.9 
			 Barts Health NHS Trust 6.2 
			 Bedford Hospital NHS Trust 6.0 
			 Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 7.3 
			 Bolton NHS Foundation Trust 5.5 
			 Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4.9 
			 Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust 5.7 
			 Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 10.2 
			 Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.7 
			 Calderdale And Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust 4.9 
			 Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.2 
			 Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.3 
		
	
	
		
			 Chelsea And Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5.1 
			 Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6.5 
			 City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust 5.1 
			 Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust 4.7 
			 Countess Of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6.4 
			 County Durham And Darlington NHS Foundation Trust 6.8 
			 Coventry And Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust 4.4 
			 Croydon Health Services NHS Trust 4.9 
			 Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Trust 5.3 
			 Doncaster And Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.0 
			 Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6.9 
			 Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust 8.8 
			 East And North Hertfordshire NHS Trust 4.5 
			 East Cheshire NHS Trust 6.1 
			 East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust 4.9 
			 East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust 4.2 
			 East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 6.0 
			 Epsom And St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust 4.9 
			 Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6.5 
			 George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust 2.7 
			 Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4.3 
			 Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 7.5 
			 Guy's And St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust 4.2 
			 Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.7 
			 Harrogate And District NHS Foundation Trust 5.5 
			 Heart Of England NHS Foundation Trust 5.3 
			 Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust 3.6 
			 Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 3.0 
			 Hull And East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 5.5 
			 Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 5.1 
			 Isle Of Wight NHS Trust 5.5 
			 James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4.8 
			 Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5.7 
			 King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6.1 
			 Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 4.6 
			 Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.0 
			 Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust 4.8 
			 Lewisham And Greenwich NHS Trust 5.1 
		
	
	
		
			 Luton And Dunstable University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5.1 
			 Maidstone And Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust 6.3 
			 Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.6 
			 Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust 5.7 
			 Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust 4.7 
			 Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust 5.4 
			 Milton Keynes Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 4.0 
			 Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5.7 
			 Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 6.4 
			 North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust 7.2 
			 North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust 6.0 
			 North West London Hospitals NHS Trust 3.8 
			 Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust 4.2 
			 Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust 5.5 
			 Northern Lincolnshire And Goole NHS Foundation Trust 5.4 
			 Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust 5.3 
			 Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust 8.5 
			 Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 5.4 
			 Peterborough And Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.4 
			 Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust 5.8 
			 Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5.7 
			 Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust 5.6 
			 Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 8.8 
			 Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust 6.7 
			 Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust 5.5 
			 Royal Devon And Exeter NHS Foundation Trust 4.8 
			 Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust 6.8 
			 Royal Liverpool And Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust 4.6 
			 Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5.9 
			 Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust 5.2 
			 Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust 4.0 
			 Sandwell And West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust 4.5 
			 Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.6 
			 Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.6 
			 Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust 10.4 
			 South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust 4.2 
			 South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 6.3 
			 South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust 6.8 
			 South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust 5.8 
			 Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5.4 
		
	
	
		
			 Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust 4.4 
			 Southport And Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust 3.5 
			 St George's Healthcare NHS Trust 7.0 
			 St Helens And Knowsley Hospitals NHS Trust 4.7 
			 Stockport NHS Foundation Trust 6.7 
			 Surrey And Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust 6.2 
			 Taunton And Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 8.3 
			 The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust 5.8 
			 The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4.1 
			 The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 4.7 
			 The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust 5.4 
			 The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, King's Lynn, NHS Foundation Trust 3.2 
			 The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust 2.1 
			 The Royal Bournemouth And Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.2 
			 The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust 4.5 
			 United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust 6.2 
			 University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 5.9 
			 University Hospital Of North Staffordshire NHS Trust 4.8 
			 University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust 5.6 
			 University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust 5.3 
			 University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust 5.3 
			 University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust 5.2 
			 University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust 5.8 
			 University Hospitals Of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust 5.2 
			 Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust 5.5 
			 Warrington And Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 3.4 
			 West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust 10.8 
			 West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust 3.1 
			 Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 8.6 
			 Weston Area Health NHS Trust 5.6 
			 Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 6.0 
			 Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust 4.7 
			 Worcestershire Health And Care NHS Trust 4.2 
			 Wrightington, Wigan And Leigh NHS Foundation Trust 4.0 
			 Wye Valley NHS Trust 5.6 
			 Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 3.0 
		
	
	
		
			 York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 5.4 
			 Notes: 1. Median waiting times are calculated from aggregate data, rather than patient level data, and therefore are only estimates of the position on average waits. 2. Median waiting times are not calculated for organisations (and treatment functions) with less than 50 pathways in the month. 3. The following trusts did not submit any RTT incomplete pathway data for February 2014: - Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust; - Barking, Havering & Redbridge NHS Trust; - Derby Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; - Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; - The Whittington Hospital NHS Trust; and - Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust.

Paediatrics

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect on NHS service provision for seriously ill children and their families of the specialist senior nurses posts funded by the charity Well Child.

Daniel Poulter: We have not made any central assessment of this role. We are aware of the valuable work which Well Child does, and we were able to support Well Child with a grant in 2010-11 from the £19 million we made available for funding local schemes to support children’s palliative care services.
	We understand that Well Child funds each nurse for a period of three years, after which time the individual national health service health provider commits to continue the post. Each nurse is employed and managed by the local health care trust in which they work and therefore it would seem that the providers would be best placed to comment on the impact they have made.

Paediatrics

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that numbers of community children's nurses meet future demand; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State has delegated to Health Education England (HEE) the responsibility for delivering a better health and healthcare workforce for England. HEE plans and develops the workforce to ensure a secure workforce supply for the future, balancing need against demand. HEE’s Workforce Plan, published in December 2013, confirmed an increase of 31 (1.4%) in education and training commissions for children’s nurses for 2014-15.
	The local education and training boards, which are sub-committees of HEE, work with local providers, including employers, to contribute to HEE’s overall future workforce plan. It is the responsibility of employers to ensure they have the right staff, with the right skills, to deliver high-quality care, which includes supporting their continuing professional development.

Paediatrics

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children of what age have spent three months or more continuously in hospital in each local health authority in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: Information is not available by local health authority. The following table gives information by strategic health authority (SHA) of the number of children (by age bands) up to 18 years who have spent more than three months in hospital in the last five years for which information is available.
	
		
			 Count of finished discharge episodes (FDEs)1 for children up to and including 18 years of age with a length of stay2 of more than three months for the years 2008-09 to 2012-133 by strategic health authority of treatment 
			 Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			    Age Group  
			  SHA Code Description 0 1-4 5-9 10-14 15-18 Total 
			 2008-09 Q30 North East Strategic Health Authority 50 9 9 27 60 155 
			  Q31 North West Strategic Health Authority 164 31 8 35 111 349 
			  Q32 Yorkshire And The Humber Strategic Health Authority 96 * * 22 39 157 
			  Q33 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 67 * * 18 56 141 
			  Q34 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 120 23 12 45 110 310 
			  Q35 East of England Strategic Health Authority 41 * * 21 63 125 
			  Q36 London Strategic Health Authority 256 38 18 50 112 474 
			  Q37 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 37 * * 7 29 73 
			  Q38 South Central Strategic Health Authority 77 * * 17 86 180 
			  Q39 South West Strategic Health Authority 70 * * 33 79 182 
			          
			 2009-10 Q30 North East Strategic Health Authority 53 13 7 31 71 175 
			  Q31 North West Strategic Health Authority 174 32 20 39 96 361 
			  Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority 97 * * 20 43 160 
			  Q33 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 71 * * 24 48 143 
			  Q34 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 113 8 8 40 81 250 
			  Q35 East of England Strategic Health Authority 53 * * 23 60 136 
			  Q36 London Strategic Health Authority 310 41 20 64 123 558 
			  Q37 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 46 * * 9 23 78 
			  Q38 South Central Strategic Health Authority 66 * * 22 58 146 
			  Q39 South West Strategic Health Authority 94 * * 25 57 176 
		
	
	
		
			 2010-11 Q30 North East Strategic Health Authority 71 * * 28 80 179 
			  Q31 North West Strategic Health Authority 163 31 15 46 86 341 
			  Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority 95 10 8 16 40 169 
			  Q33 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 64 * * 22 49 135 
			  Q34 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 124 22 12 43 82 283 
			  Q35 East of England Strategic Health Authority 59 * * 20 79 158 
			  Q36 London Strategic Health Authority 271 46 21 92 161 591 
			  Q37 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 43 * * 12 29 84 
			  Q38 South Central Strategic Health Authority 86 10 - 25 75 196 
			  Q39 South West Strategic Health Authority 85 * * 22 53 160 
			          
			 2011-12 Q30 North East Strategic Health Authority 52 10 8 25 88 183 
			  Q31 North West Strategic Health Authority 154 34 17 46 105 356 
			  Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority 116 9 * * 28 153 
			  Q33 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 65 * * 14 52 131 
			  Q34 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 108 17 10 43 59 237 
			  Q35 East of England Strategic Health Authority 49 * * 23 89 161 
			  Q36 London Strategic Health Authority 273 57 28 92 146 596 
			  Q37 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 37 * * 7 26 70 
			  Q38 South Central Strategic Health Authority 66 * * 27 77 170 
			  Q39 South West Strategic Health Authority 60 8 8 6 52 134 
			          
			 2012-13 Q30 North East Strategic Health Authority 55 15 9 31 79 189 
			  Q31 North West Strategic Health Authority 136 25 11 49 121 342 
			  Q32 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority 113 * * 15 39 167 
			  Q33 East Midlands Strategic Health Authority 53 * * 16 32 101 
			  Q34 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority 124 * * 48 67 239 
			  Q35 East of England Strategic Health Authority 49 * * 41 88 178 
			  Q36 London Strategic Health Authority 298 69 40 88 164 659 
			  Q37 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority 45 6 * * 26 77 
			  Q38 South Central Strategic Health Authority 51 * * 20 81 152 
			  Q39 South West Strategic Health Authority 67 * * 19 70 156 
			 1Finished discharge episodes (FDEs) A discharge episode is the last episode during a hospital stay (a spell), where the patient is discharged from the hospital or transferred to another hospital. 2Length of stay (duration of spell) The difference in days between the admission date and the discharge date (duration of spell), where both dates are given. For the purposes of this analysis records with a length of stay greater than 90 days have been included. 3 Assessing growth through time (In-patients) HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Note: Small numbers: To protect patient confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify figures from the total, additional figures have been replaced with "*". Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre

Palliative Care

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the data collected by the Palliative Care Funding Review Pilot sites; and whether enough data have been collected to allow a decision to be made before the end of this Parliament on implementing free social care at the end of life.

Norman Lamb: NHS England is due to receive the health and social care data from the Palliative Care Funding Review Pilots by the end of May. Once these data have been analysed, this will form the evidence base for a decision on free social care at the end of life, along with wider policy and financial considerations.

Parkinson’s Disease

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the reduction of avoidable harm by better medicines reconciliation for hospital patients with Parkinson's;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to improve reporting of instances in which the medication regimes of hospital patients with Parkinson's are disrupted through delays or errors in medicines reconciliation; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The Department has made no such assessment.
	The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) issued joint guidance, ‘Technical patient safety solutions for medicines reconciliation on admission of adults to hospital’ in December 2007, which aims to reduce medication errors, which occur most commonly on transfer between care settings and on admission to hospital. This guidance applies to all patients, including those with Parkinson’s disease, and is available at:
	www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/11897/38560/38560.pdf
	The NPSA also issued a Rapid Response Report on ‘Reducing harm from omitted and delayed medicines in hospital’ in February 2010. This makes reference to medicines where timeliness of administration is crucial, including those for Parkinson’s disease. This is available at:
	www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/alerts/?entryid45=66720
	NICE, the NPSA and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society have all identified the key role of pharmacists in medicines reconciliation and the majority of hospitals now have pharmacists on admission wards to help ensure patients’ medicines are reconciled promptly.
	A strong reporting culture, where safety incidents are reported and monitored, is essential to improving safety for all patients, including those with Parkinson’s disease. NHS England and the ‘Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’ jointly issued two patient safety alerts on 20 March 2014 to help health care providers increase incident reporting for ‘medication errors’ and ‘medical devices’. The alerts instruct providers to take specific steps that will improve data reporting quality; and will see the establishment of national networks to maximise learning and provide guidance on minimising harm relating to these incident types.
	The measures announced by the Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), on 26 March, as part of his invitation to NHS organisations to ‘Sign up to Safety’, are also likely to lead to an increase in the number of reported incidents of harm in the national health service even though care will be getting safer.

Pharmacy

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he has taken to increase public understanding of the services offered by independent pharmacies;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the role independent pharmacies play in relieving pressures on other health and welfare services; and what steps he has taken to disseminate best practice.

Norman Lamb: Pharmacy already plays a vital role in supporting the health of people in their local communities, providing high-quality care and support, improving people’s health and reducing health inequalities. However, as we move to more integrated care, there is real potential for pharmacists and their teams to play an even greater role in the future, particularly in keeping people healthy, supporting those with long-term conditions and helping make sure patients and the national health service get the best use from medicines.
	NHS England’s public consultation, “Improving care through community pharmacy—a call to action”, which closed on 18 March 2014, has provided an important opportunity to explore the contribution community pharmacists and their teams can make. This will inform a strategic framework for commissioning wider primary care services in the autumn. A copy of the consultation document is at:
	www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/qual-clin-lead/calltoaction/pharm-cta/
	In the meantime, NHS England’s “The earlier, the better” campaign, launched in January 2014, specifically sought to raise the profile of community pharmacy with the public, to increase the number of people accessing community pharmacy services when they have a minor ailment and to reduce pressures on other parts of the NHS.
	On 14 April 2014, the Department and NHS England published “Transforming Primary Care—Safe, proactive, personalised care for those who need it most”. This sets out plans for more proactive, personalised and joined- up care, part of which is harnessing the potential of pharmacists. This recognises the vital role that pharmacists have in optimising medicines use, helping to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and supporting people to manage their own care. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Policy

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what circumstances he uses a calculation of the (a) value of preventing a fatality, (b) willingness to pay and (c) cost-per-quality adjusted life year approach to quantify the value of a policy intervention; what other tools he uses to quantify the benefit of a policy intervention; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: The Green Book and associated supplementary guidance is publicly available on the Treasury website. It sets out a range of approaches and methods that may be appropriate in a number of different appraisal circumstances.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in the last five years.

Norman Lamb: We do not collect the information requested centrally. However, the survey Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England—2007 found that, overall, 3.0% of adults screened positive for current post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
	The King’s Centre for Military Health Research recently published ‘The mental health of the UK Armed Forces in the 21st century: resilience in the face of adversity’, which also recognises that PTSD rates in the United Kingdom general population are approximately 3%.

Prescription Drugs

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure the prescription of drugs by doctors is not influenced by financial payments from pharmaceutical companies.

Norman Lamb: The offer of gifts and benefits to health care professionals is strictly regulated under Regulation 300 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. This provides that, where medicines are being promoted to health care professionals who prescribe or supply medicines, no gift, pecuniary advantage or benefit may be offered or supplied unless it is inexpensive and relevant to the practice of medicine or pharmacy. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency or the industry self-regulatory body, the Prescription Medicines Code of Practice Authority, would investigate any complaint about inappropriate payments made by pharmaceutical companies under this regulation.

Prescriptions

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions officials in his Department have had with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) on the development of NICE's highly specialised technologies programme since 1 January 2014; what the content of those discussions was; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: Departmental officials have had no such discussions. Officials may discuss individual highly specialised technology topics with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, including at the topic selection stage.

Prescriptions

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) assesses the cost-effectiveness of an intervention when the data available are uncertain; what assessment NICE has made of the average range around the most plausible cost-per-QALY in its technology appraisals; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) follows a rigorous process in the appraisal of technologies to ensure that judgments regarding the cost-effective use of NHS resources are consistently applied. This includes consideration of the uncertainty generated where available data have serious limitations.
	When making judgments on cost-effectiveness, the NICE appraisal committee will consider a number of factors, including the strength of the clinical-effectiveness evidence, the innovative nature of the technology, the robustness and plausibility of the economic models, the degree of certainty around the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), the range and plausibility of the ICERs and the likelihood of decision error and its consequences. Full details of how the Committee takes uncertainty into account is contained within sections 5.8, 6.3 and 6.4 of NICE’s Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal 2013, which is available at:
	http://publications.nice.org.uk/guide-to-the-methods-of-technology-appraisal-2013-pmg9
	NICE advises that it has not carried out an assessment of the average range around the most plausible cost-per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) in its technology appraisals. We understand that although NICE usually specifies the most plausible cost-per-QALY for each technology appraisal, it does not normally specify a range for this assessment.

Prescriptions

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will discuss with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) ensuring that assessments of treatments by NICE conducted through (a) normal technology appraisals and (b) highly specialised technology appraisals is consistent in its (i) engagement with stakeholders and (ii) wider methodological approaches.

Norman Lamb: We have no plans to do so. As an independent body, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is responsible for developing its methods and processes and applying them consistently.

Prescriptions

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 31 March 2014, Official Report, column 491W, on medical treatments, what technology appraisals were conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the last five years; what the most plausible cost per quality adjusted life-year for each such appraisal was; what the estimated eligible patient population was for each appraised indication; on which appraisals end-of-life criteria were applied in each final appraisal determination; and on which date each such appraisal was (a) initiated and (b) concluded.

Norman Lamb: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal decisions published between 2000 to end of February 2014 have already been placed in the Library.
	NICE has advised that it does hold the most plausible cost per quality adjusted life-year for each technology appraisal, the estimated patient population for each appraised indication, details of appraisals where the end-of-life criteria were applied in each final appraisal determination and the dates each appraisal was initiated and concluded. However, this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Psoriasis

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what data requirements are necessary to precipitate the development of Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicators based on quality statements 1 and 2 of the NICE quality standard on psoriasis;
	(2)  if he will take steps to transpose quality statements 1 and 2 of the NICE quality standard on psoriasis into Clinical Commissioning Group Outcome Indicators.

Norman Lamb: I refer the right hon. Member to the written answer I gave her on 9 April 2014, Official Report, columns 262-63W.

Public Health England

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) purpose and (b) cost of international travel undertaken for official purposes by (i) directors of Public Health England and (ii) members of its advisory board has been since 1 April 2012.

Jane Ellison: The purposes of Public Health England’s (PHE) international travel include:
	to provide expert advice to international agencies such as the World Health Organisation and to the overseas territories of the United Kingdom (UK);
	to co-ordinate the global preparedness for serious health threats that might affect the UK;
	to provide advice and support to other national public health agencies on public health incidents and initiatives to improve health;
	to contribute to humanitarian responses; and
	to present PHE contributions at international scientific conferences.
	The cost of international travel undertaken for official purposes is as follows:
	(i) Directors of PHE: £12,458.57
	(ii) Members of PHE’s advisory board since April 2013: £817.74.
	International travel has been defined as the cost of transportation wholly outside the UK or tickets to/from a destination outside the UK.

Public Health England

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Public Health England has spent on the development and implementation of its Global Health Strategy since its inception.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s (PHE) Global Health Strategy is currently in development.
	Development of the strategy has been undertaken by PHE’s in-house global health and international teams. The following table shows PHE’s spend on the development of its Global Health Strategy:
	
		
			 Expense Cost (£) 
			 Staff time attributed to strategy development1 41,783.63 
			 Travel expenses 348.05 
			 Off-site meeting in UK 1,407.71 
			 Total2 43,539.39 
			 1 Staff time includes the contribution from a consultant in public health plus employer related costs. This excludes other staff contributions for which time allocation is not captured. 2 Excludes telephony costs and minor refreshments costs.

Public Health England

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much Public Health England has spent on consultancy workers in 2013-14.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) has incurred no expenditure with professional consultancy firms of the nature described in the Cabinet Office definition of consultancy.
	However, PHE sought approval under the Department’s Professional Services approvals route for £8.1 million of contingent labour where the daily rate of the individuals concerned was more than £220 per day. This involves approval by the Chief Executive of PHE, by the Department’s Procurement and by the Department’s Financial Approvals Panel.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the recent decision by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) to refuse to allow doctors who have a conscientious objection to supplying certain abortive-type contraceptive drugs or devices to undertake and complete specialist training with the aim of gaining Membership of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare of the RCOG.

Jane Ellison: The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare is responsible for decisions on the syllabus of its diploma, the requirements for entry to the diploma course, and the award of a diploma qualification.
	The Department understands that the guidelines on the syllabus on possible conscientious objection have not changed.

Sickle Cell Diseases

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to raise awareness among clinicians of sickle cell disease and its incidence among those of non-African-Caribbean extraction.

Jane Ellison: While the highest incidence of sickle cell disease occurs in people of African or African Caribbean origin, it is known that there are other ethnic groups in which the disease is also more common.
	To support clinicians in the diagnosis treatment and care of patients with a range of diseases and conditions, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has developed the Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) website. The CKS for sickle cell disease sets out that the condition disease affects one in every 2,400 live births in England and is now the most common genetic condition at birth. It lists nine other ethnic groupings, in addition to African or African Caribbean, with a clinically significant prevalence of the sickle cell gene which clinicians should consider when assessing a patient. The CKS for sickle cell disease can be found at the following link:
	http://cks.nice.org.uk/sickle-cell-disease

Smoking: Motor Vehicles

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to bring forward regulations for the introduction of the ban on smoking in cars with children present.

Jane Ellison: The Children and Families Act 2014 contains regulation-making powers to prohibit smoking in private vehicles carrying children. The Department is currently drawing up proposals for how this could be achieved, which we will consult on. We plan to introduce these regulations during the lifetime of this Parliament.

Social Work

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which Minister in his Department is responsible for social work work force planning.

Norman Lamb: I am the Minister for Care and Support at the Department of Health responsible for adult social care work force issues, which includes social work. The Department for Education is responsible for children and families social work.
	However, it is the responsibility of the individual employers of social workers to plan the work force, ensuring they have the right number of trained social work staff in place to deliver the required service.

Stationery

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what levels of stock his Department holds of (a) stationery, (b) printer cartridges, (c) treasury tags and other fasteners and (d) other office consumables.

Daniel Poulter: The Department makes use of the Government Office Supplies contract to obtain supplies of stationery and associated items. In March 2014, the Department ordered 1,957 units of stationery, which included 54 boxes of foldback clips, 41 boxes of bar tags and 15 boxes of paperclips. These items are ordered directly from Banner on an “as required” basis by individual directorates and no records of any small local stocks are maintained.
	The Department does not hold central stocks of the consumables associated with the provision of multi- functional device services such as printers. These items are replenished automatically by the supplier when required.
	In a small number of cases, standalone printer cartridges are sourced through XMA Ltd under the Government Office Supplies contract. In March 2014, the Department sourced 13 units through this contract. A small number of these items may be held locally but these are not recorded.

Surgery

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information patients are entitled to as to whether a medical operation will be undertaken by a fully surgically qualified member of staff.

Daniel Poulter: It is the responsibility of the individual national health service trust or NHS foundation trusts to ensure that patients are treated by suitably qualified staff.
	The Department encourages patients to make an informed decision before having medical operations. As part of this, patients can ask to have information on the clinical staff that will be conducting any medical operation and the Department would expect that the trust should provide this information to them.
	The NHS Constitution sets out patients’ rights when using NHS services, and these include:
	The right to be treated with a professional standard of care, by appropriately qualified and experienced staff, in a properly approved or registered organisation that meets required levels of safety and quality; and
	The right to be involved in discussions and decisions about your health and care, including your end of life care, and to be given information to enable you to do this. Where appropriate this right includes your family and carers.
	One of the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) core 16 quality and safety standards is that providers must ensure that those carrying on a regulated activity, such as medical operations, must have the qualifications, skills and experience necessary for the work to be performed. The CQC can take action against health care providers if they are concerned about them employing inappropriately qualified staff.
	In addition, the General Medical Council (GMC) holds the central registers of doctors’ qualifications. The medical register shows who is properly qualified to practise medicine, while the specialist register shows doctors who have completed specialist training, including surgical training. Patients may visit the GMC website to search the medical register online.
	On patient consent, the GMC’s guidance, ‘Consent: patients and doctors making decisions together’, states patients must be provided with the information they have requested on:
	“the people who will be mainly responsible for and involved in their care, what their roles are, and to what extent students may be involved.”
	This means that, as part of the consent process, doctors are expected to give honest answers to any questions from patients, including questions about their qualifications to carry out the particular procedure in question. This is specifically expressed in the GMC’s document, ‘Good Medical Practice’,paragraph 66, where it says:
	“You must always be honest about your experience, qualifications and current role.”

Surgery

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many surgical care practitioners have practised in the NHS in each year since 2005.

Daniel Poulter: The information is not held centrally. The number of surgical care practitioners who have practised in the national health service in each year since 2005 is not identified separately in the annual NHS workforce census.

Surgery

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effect of the number of surgical care practitioners on the training of junior doctors in surgery.

Daniel Poulter: The Government have mandated Health Education England (HEE) to provide national leadership on education, training and workforce development in the national health service.
	HEE supports the delivery of excellent health care and health improvement to the patients and public of England, by ensuring that our workforce has the right numbers, skills, values and behaviours, at the right time and in the right place. A key part of that role is a continuing responsibility for ensuring the provision of an appropriate number of surgical trainees. Assurance of the quality of surgical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council.

Tamiflu

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what pharmaceutical companies supplied the Government's stockpile of Tamiflu.

Jane Ellison: Roche is the only supplier of the Government’s stockpile of Tamiflu. There are currently no other suppliers of Tamiflu.

Teenage Pregnancy

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of teenage pregnancy co-ordinators in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14.

Jane Ellison: The Department does not collect this information centrally. Efforts to tackle teenage pregnancy are led by local authorities, who will make local decisions on whether a teenage pregnancy co-ordinator is needed in their local area. There is no requirement for them to report centrally on whether they have a co-ordinator.

Tobacco: Packaging

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to bring forward draft regulations for the introduction of standard packaging for tobacco products.

Jane Ellison: Before reaching a final decision on standardised packaging of tobacco products, and in order to ensure that the decision is properly and fully informed, we intend to publish the draft regulations to make sure that intentions are clear, alongside a final short consultation.
	This consultation will ask, in particular, for views on anything new since the last full public consultation that is relevant to a final decision. The content and timing of the consultation will be announced shortly.

Trade Unions

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has any plans to end the employee trade union membership dues check-off system.

Daniel Poulter: In accordance with a request from the Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, my right hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (Mr Maude), the Department and its Executive agencies (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and Public Health England) have undertaken a review of the provision of the check-off facility. Upon completion, this review will be submitted to the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), for consideration.

Transvaginal Mesh Implants

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what meetings his Department has had in which polypropylene transvaginal mesh implants were (a) discussed or (b) on the agenda;
	(2)  what representations his Department has received communicating concerns with polypropylene transvaginal mesh implants;
	(3)  how many patients have reported complications with polypropylene transvaginal mesh implants in each of the last three years;
	(4)  how many patients have received polypropylene transvaginal mesh implants through the NHS in each of the last three years;
	(5)  how many cases of complications with transvaginal mesh implants have been reported by health professionals in each of the last three years;
	(6)  what processes his Department and the NHS have in place to monitor the safety of transvaginal mesh implants;
	(7)  how many patients have required further operations due to complications with transvaginal mesh implants in each of the last three years; and what the cost of such procedures was.

Norman Lamb: The Department of Health does not hold information on the number of patients who have required further operations due to complications with transvaginal mesh implants in each of the last three years or the costs of these operations.
	The Department has had two meetings in which polypropylene transvaginal mesh implants were either discussed or on the agenda.
	NHS England manages the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS) for patient safety incident reports from the NHS. NHS England shares incident reports concerning harms arising from medical devices with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
	Manufacturers of medical devices such as transvaginal mesh implants are legally required to report adverse incidents (ie death, serious injury or potential serious injury) involving their devices to the MHRA. General Medical Guidance published in February 2013 makes it clear that clinicians should report medical device incidents to the MHRA, and make information available to patients about how they can report side effects to the MHRA. The MHRA also encourages voluntary reporting of adverse incidents by healthcare workers, carers, patients and members of the public and participates in monthly telephone meetings with regulators in other European Union member states to share information about medical device safety.
	The Department is currently engaged in work to assess the effectiveness of existing arrangements for reporting complications relating to transvaginal mesh implants. NHS England is leading this work, which also involves the MHRA, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the relevant professional societies (the British Society of Urogynaecology and the British Association of Urological Surgeons).
	
		
			 Finished consultant episodes for women who have received a primary or secondary operative procedure for the insertion of transvaginal mesh, transobturator tape, transvaginal slings and transvaginal tape 
			 Procedure 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Insertion of Transvaginal Mesh 1,636 1,524 1,310 
			 Insertion of Transobturator Tape 5,426 4,885 4,476 
			 Insertion of Transvaginal Sling 130 134 135 
			 Insertion of Transvaginal Tape 8,087 8,172 7,627 
			 Note: Activity in English NHS Hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre. 
		
	
	Adverse events reported to MHRA by health professionals concerning vaginal tape and mesh implants are as follows:
	
		
			  Vaginal tapes for stress urinary incontinence Vaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse Vaginal mesh for unknown1 indication 
			 2011 3 1 0 
			 2012 23 31 2 
			 2013 27 20 0 
		
	
	
		
			 Up to March 2014 16 7 0 
			 1 The reporter did not provide enough information on what type of mesh it was 
		
	
	
		
			 Number of patient safety incidents relating to mesh used in gynaecological procedures reported to the NRLS (Year of occurrence by reported degree of harm) 
			  No harm Low Moderate Total 
			 2011 0 2 4 6 
			 2012 7 4 3 14 
			 2013 4 1 1 6 
			 Total 11 7 8 26 
			 Search strategy: All incidents from gynaecological specialties in the NRLS were searched on 2 December 2013 for the keyword ‘mesh’ 
		
	
	Adverse events reported to MHRA by patients/members of the public concerning vaginal tape and mesh implants are as follows:
	
		
			  Vaginal tapes for stress urinary incontinence Vaginal mesh for pelvic organ prolapse Vaginal mesh for unknown1 indication 
			 2011 33 7 3 
			 2012 26 2 0 
			 2013 30 10 3 
			 Up to March 2014 7 0 0 
			 1 The reporter did not provide enough information on what type of mesh it was. 
		
	
	No incidents relating to transvaginal mesh have been reported to the NRLS by patients.
	The Department has answered 11 previous parliamentary questions, 27 letters from hon. Members and Peers and 17 letters from members of the public since 1 September 2011. The chief executive of the MHRA has replied to six letters from hon. Members since 1 September 2011.